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chronoplasm
2008-09-16, 04:50 PM
*under construction*

At one time, the world of Runa was ruled by beings now called The Ancients who built great machines called Dungeons. The Dungeons collect up chaotic magic and force it to congeal into the monsters that populate the dungeons. Brave warriors called adventurers delve into the dungeons to kill the monsters and collect their remains to process into the most valuable substance in the world; Marrow.

Locations:

Niknam

Once a proud and wealthy nation that controlled a great dungeon, this city has lost its dungeon to an invading army from the west and has now fallen on hard times.
Niknam is a coastal mining city. Jagged mountains from the east meet with azure oceans to the west.


Ardrich

South of Niknam, there is a dwarven city carved into the sides of a canyon. The dwarves here are generally isolationist but they do trade with their northern neigbors.


Los

Far up to the north, there is a land where the sun never sets and a magical fruit called Skyfruit grows.
Those who eat dried skyfruit can have spiritual experiences and even communicate with the sun god.
Legend has it that a young priest named Shar once ate a skyfruit, and heard a command from the sun god that he should journey south until he could journey no farther, and to only travel by night.
Shar began his journey in his early twenties and ended it on his bicentenial. He fell dead of old age at the gates of the Greenskin orcish fortress.
The Greenskin orcs took the old man's body and belongings inside to their king, and they found a bag full of dried skyfruit. The king of the orcs took one taste of a skyfruit and declared it the most amazing thing he had ever tasted. In a shockingly uncharacteristic act of charity, he shared the skyfruit with the entire tribe.
Eventually, the orcs started to feel very nauseated, and then they saw a flash of light. The sun god appeared before the orcs and told them to travel as far north as they possibly could, and to journey only by day. He told them also that they should henceforth call themselves the Sharakim tribe.

The orcs did as they were commanded, and set off on a painful journey for many generations. Many orcs died, as they were nocturnal creatures and the daylight harmed them. Each generation became more and more resistant to the sunlight however, and soon the tribe began to develop firey red manes and their skin color turned from a sickly green to a lustrous gold.

Eventually, the Sharakim arrived at a city besieged by an army that fought under the banner of a green dragon. The Sharakim joined the fray and fought the green-dragon army off. The Sharakim would learn that they were now in the land of Los, where their prophet Shar originally came from. The Sharakim settled there, and now live in peace and harmony. Occasionally, Sharakim venture out to extend a message of peace to orcish tribes.


Nagem

At one time, Nagem was a simple fishing town full of pious people. When plague swept over the town however, the gods of the people failed to deliver salvation. The desperate people turned to the nearby Dungeon where they hoped to find their gods themselves. Instead, the people found a devil.
The devil did not come as a bringer of fire and death, but instead came in the form of a well-dressed scribe holding many books. The devil, who called himself Mephistopheles, put the people at ease by soothing their pain and cleansing their sores with herbal treatments.
Mephistopheles assembled a wooden tube with curved glass lenses at both ends, and used it to show people things that were very small. With this device, he demonstrated that the plagues were not caused by invisible demons, but rather by tiny creatures called animacules.
The devil taught the people how to fight infection with vaccination, sanitation, and antibiotics. Soon the people were in awe of Mephistopheles, and began to study the vast collection of books he donated to their library.

Mephistopheles had to leave to avoid attracting the wrath of the gods, but before he did, he founded the University of Nagem.

Nagem is a college town, distrusted by outsiders as an ungodly place where necromancers and tieflings are tolerated and where pirates recruit young men and women who hope to pay off their student loans with ill-gotten gains.


Kire

There were once two mighty warrior brothers named Ludba and Rafaj. Rafaj was a human, and Ludba was an orc. Though Ludba was adopted, his brother loved him just the same and the two went on many adventures together.
When their allies, the nation of Kire, were attacked by the orcs of Yarg, Ludba and Rafaj rushed in to save the day.

Ludba soon discovered that Yarg was in fact his true birthplace, and that the king of Yarg was his biological father. Ludba was almost swayed to the dark side, until his brother Rafaj was killed. In a frenzied rage, Ludba slew his biological father and his entire birth family, and caused the entire army of Yarg to retreat.

In gratitude, the king of Kire abdicated his thrown and made Ludba the king of Kire. Kire is now ruled by a half-orc king named Rafaj IV.


Yarg

Yarg is a volcanic and swampy island where a fallen orcish empire resides. They have a seething hatred for the traitor half-blood king of Kire, but they aren't able to mount a successful attack.


Yellowgob

A goblin tribe was wandering around the swamps when they found a mysterious abandoned fortress. This was the place where the Sharakim, formerly the Greenskins, once resided. The goblins moved in and called the place Yellowgob.

This place is home to goblins, hobgoblins, and bugbears alike.


Elocin

Surrounded by lush forest, there is an amethyst city called Elocin, home of the Eladrin and their underlings.
A rigid caste system in Elocin broke up elven society, and over time the segments of society speciated and adapted to their respective districts.

Eladrin are the top tier of Elocin society and live in the amethyst city.
Wood Elves are below the eladrin and live in the forest.
Drow are below the wood elves and live in the underground slums beneath Elocin. Mind you, the elven equivalents of slums are more luxurious than the upper-middle class apartments in Niknam.
Below the drow are sylphs and all other minor fey.
Half-elves are outsiders and are not part of the caste system.

Elocin is located north of Niknam.


Dahsar

Past the dwarven mountains, there is a vast desert.
Nomadic tribes of gnolls wander the white sands, completely unaware of the invisible city above their heads.

There is a great invisible dome above the desert, standing upon giant pillars.
This is the ancient city of Dahsar, where gnomes and minotaurs live.

There are two levels of Dahsar.
The level below is an endless maze where tribes of minotaurs wander. The minotaurs tattoo their bodies with maze patterns and carry around maces crafted to look like the puzzle cubes that they love so dearly. You see, the minotaurs love puzzles and riddles. That's why they built their part of the city as a labyrinth.
The level above is a misty forest of illustions. The trees conceal little burrows that house the gnomes and their clockwork machinery.


Ula-Eladred

This strange city is surrounded by a forest of upside-down trees.
The elves live underneath the city, while the dwarves live high up in tall towers.


Otiv

This city is built inside of a broken Dungeon. The Dungeon doesn't produce monsters or marrow in some sections, allowing researchers to safely enter and dismantle the ancient machinery.

The people native to this land are Githyanki and Githzerai.
Ancient machines called Warforged were found deep within the Dungeon, and awoken. They have no memory, but they seem eager to help the researchers.


Zuir, the Land that Time Forgot

This land of jungles and golden cities is home to Kobolds, Lizardfolk, Dragonborn, Troglodytes, and Yuan-Ti.

They worship a dragon god of time named Orouboros.

Zeta Kai
2008-09-16, 05:53 PM
Do you need a map?

chronoplasm
2008-09-16, 05:57 PM
Do you need a map?

If you can help me out, that would be greatly appreciated. :smallsmile:

Zeta Kai
2008-09-16, 05:59 PM
If you can help me out, that would be greatly appreciated. :smallsmile:

PM me your geography notes, if any. I'll see what I can do.

chronoplasm
2008-09-16, 06:51 PM
PM me your geography notes, if any. I'll see what I can do.

What you see is what I've got, unfortunately.

Lappy9000
2008-09-16, 07:50 PM
Ooh, spiffy. I especially like Dahsar; great idea!

Is this 3.5 or 4e?

chronoplasm
2008-09-16, 07:55 PM
4e. I'm still trying to get my players to agree on a day to play.

chronoplasm
2008-09-16, 08:43 PM
I'm still trying to figure out those invaders from the west.
What I have so far:

Their flag is an orange star on a blue field.
They have goblin mercenaries working for them.
They have fire-arms, but the bullets can't penetrate armor produced in Ardrich. These invaders were very shocked by this at first (seems they've never encountered dwarven craftsmanship), but they still won the battle against Niknam through sheer numbers.

Beyond that, I have no idea what their culture and their homeland is like. I imagine them as imperialists from another continent.

Zeta Kai
2008-09-16, 11:32 PM
What you see is what I've got, unfortunately.

So, do I have free reign to make a map? :smallcool:

chronoplasm
2008-09-16, 11:33 PM
So, do I have free reign to make a map? :smallcool:

Go for it.:smallsmile:

Zeta Kai
2008-09-17, 02:51 PM
Go for it.:smallsmile:

I did. Here's your map (Warning: large image size!). Enjoy:

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s228/zetakai/Runa.jpg

chronoplasm
2008-09-17, 02:55 PM
Perfect! I know exactly where to put everything.
Thanks. :smallbiggrin:

Lappy9000
2008-09-17, 03:35 PM
Perfect! I know exactly where to put everything.
Thanks. :smallbiggrin:

Nooooo! Cronoplasm, it's a trap! Zeta Kai is using his amazing cunning and map-making skillz to take over the worlds of the homebrew forum!

Back on topic, what races are you going to be using? Just the core 4e, or are you going to throw something else awesome in?

chronoplasm
2008-09-17, 05:21 PM
Nooooo! Cronoplasm, it's a trap! Zeta Kai is using his amazing cunning and map-making skillz to take over the worlds of the homebrew forum!

Back on topic, what races are you going to be using? Just the core 4e, or are you going to throw something else awesome in?

I'm allowing:
Core 4e
Races from the 4e Monster Manuals
Races from the Forgotten Realms PHB when it comes out.

I'm also currently trying to homebrew up the Sharakim orcs.

Oh, I'm going to add some more locations to the first post in a minute here.

chronoplasm
2008-09-17, 05:40 PM
Races, and where they can be found

Dragonborn: Niknam, Zuir

Dwarves: Niknam, Ardich, Los, Ula-Eladred

Eladrin: Niknam, Elocin, Los, Nagem

Elves: Niknam, Elocin, Los, Ula-Eladred

Half-Elves: Niknam, Elocin, Los, Ula-Eladred

Halflings: ...Everywhere.

Humans: ...Everywhere.

Tiefilings: Nagem

Aasimar: Los

Bugbears: Yellowgob, Western Continent

Dopplegangers: ...Everywhere.

Drow: Elocin, Ula-Eladred

Githyanki: Otiv

Githzerai: Otiv

Gnolls: Deserts

Gnomes: Dahsar

Goblins: Yellowgob, Western Continent, Western Coast, scattered here and there.

Hobgoblins: Yellowgob, Western Continent

Kobolds: Zuir

Lizardfolk: Zuir

Minotaurs: Dahsar

Orcs: Yarg, Niknam, Nagem, ...scattered here and there.

Shadar-Kai: Nagem

Shifters: Nagem

Warforged: Otiv

Sharakim: Los

Zeta Kai
2008-09-17, 05:57 PM
Perfect! I know exactly where to put everything.
Thanks. :smallbiggrin:

Good, I'm glad you like it. If you need me to label the map later, just PM me with instructions.


Nooooo! Cronoplasm, it's a trap! Zeta Kai is using his amazing cunning and map-making skillz to take over the worlds of the homebrew forum!

Lappy, I would appreciate it if you wouldn't reveal my plans until it is far too late. My schemes go much smoother that way. :smallamused: