[LEGENDARIA] Central Regions of Legendaria

Region 04: The Silver Steppes and the Abhuman Hordes
These vast desolate steppes are an expansion of the meadows and wastelands from the north. They are broken here and there by long rolling hills running west to east, the hills dry and riddled with canyons, chasms, and hidden valleys. The river valleys are verdant and green, sometimes swampy when not defined by nearby hills and ridges.

 

Here and there are small rocky wastelands, each still glowing to a greater or lesser extent from atomic bombardment that predated the rise of the Last Galactic Empire. The Great Glittering River flows west to east across the middle of the land, with the Rugged Rapids and the Blackstone Escarpment at the easternmost edge of the region demarking the steppes from the more fertile Patchwork Lands of the east.

 

Abhuman Nomad

The Great Glittering River and its major tributaries are home to the only civilization in the region, a series of riverine towns, villages, and hamlets generally of Neo-Medieval sort, the famous “Glittering Towns,” which trade along the rivers, especially the silver that is found in large lodes, together with a variety of gemstones, in the nearby hills. There is also a brisk trade in the artifacts found in the ruins; each town and major village has a scientist or three in residence for evaluation of said artifacts. There has been some trade with the Offworlder Towns of the Burning Wastes (usually for silver and gemstones), so most town leaders have access to a handful of hydrocarbon ground vehicles and Modern or even Futuristic weaponry. Most of the towns in the region are relatively cosmopolitan, being founded by prospectors, miners, farmers, ranchers, and other immigrants from the Patchwork Lands to the east.

 

Glittering River Town

The Silver Steppes are the home of the Abhuman Hordes, a mélange of Savage and Neo-Medieval clans of Manimal, Goblinoid, and Mutant peoples, usually inimical to each other due to ancient feuds unless united under a powerful leader. Such a leader has recently arisen in the western reaches and is slowly building his power and bringing other clans under his banner. The last time this occurred the Glittering Towns and the Patchwork Lands were overwhelmed by the united clans and many hamlets, villages, towns, and even whole peoples were exterminated or forced to flee.

 

Offworlder Raider

No single major group dedicated to Chaos or Law resides in the region. The Banemasters (Map 02) send out raiding parties from time to time, as do the Outworlder Tyrants (Map 01); these are sometimes countered by the forces of the Star-Queen and the Defender of the Tower of the Stars from the Kingdom of Aeryth, to the south (Map 07), less commonly by the Champions of Castle Blackhawk (Map 08). More rarely, and usually only in the case of incursions by the Offworlder Tyrants, Marshal Lance Starstrider (Map 01) and his posse will follow the raiders from the Burning Wastes to mete out Galactic Justice.

 

Region 05: The Patchwork Lands and the Fallen Kingdoms
This region is hemmed in between realms dedicated to Chaos to the north and Law to the south, by savage hordes of Abhumans to the west and the mutant armies of the Glowing Wastes to the east. Here of old stood fabulous kingdoms and magnificent cities, all long ago fallen to ruin, even their myths and legend forgotten to time. Today it is a patchwork of glowing wastelands and verdant meadows, mutant-ridden forests and fey-haunted hills, eldritch lakes and irradiated swamps, where tiny one-village kingdoms are the rule, separated by monster-haunted wilderness filled with ancient ruins and long-lost secrets.

 

Patchwork Lands Castle of the King of Yore

This is the region where the player characters usually would begin, arriving by crashed starship, mis-spelled magical gate, mystical amusement park ride, or some other one-way ticket to Legendaria.

 

The Champions of Castle Blackhawk and the Banemasters of Demonfang Citadel are both active in this region; the former seeking to protect the locals from the depredations of the latter. The Mutant Armies of the Tower of Techno-Terror and the Abhuman Hordes of the Silver Steppes also raid into the region, while other villains and heroes of more distant origins can also be found here from time to time, as their various quests might take them.

 

Patchwork Lands Fair Hill Country

Geographically the Patchwork Lands are defined by the Shadow Peaks in the region to the north and the Crystal Peaks in the region to the south, both major east-west ranges of mountains, the lands between being a large, generally rectangular plateau. Weather is highly variable, not only due to geography but also because of malfunctioning ancient weather control systems and wild elemental and faerie forces. The land is divided in twain north and south by the Great Glittering River, which flows out of the far west across the Silver Steppes, across the Patchwork Lands, then east into the Glowing Wastes.

 

The three largest towns in the region are New Albosia (Elves, Dwarves, Halflings, Gnomes), Tradetown (Cosmopolitan), and Boltburg (Robosophonts). New Albosia in the west is often harassed by the Abhuman Hordes, Tradetown by the Banemasters, and Boltburg by the Mutant Armies of the Tower of Techno-Terror. Dozens of other villages, hamlets, castles, and towers are scattered across the region, each independent or allying with one another only long enough to fight off the latest threat. All enjoy the protection of the Champions of Castle Blackhawk from time to time, but fear calling on them too much lest they lose their independence to the Kingdom of Greymoor, as most of the other realms south of the Crystal Peaks have done (though they are all better off thereby).

 

Robosophont Town of Boltburg

In this situation a new group of heroes – not beholden to any one local group or kingdom – will at first be carefully watched but ultimately most welcome… except by the villains who prey on the local realms!

 

Region 06: The Glowing Wastes and the Tower of Techno-Terror
The Glowing Wastes dominate the western portion of this region, one of the larger reminders of the terrible end of the Last Galactic Empire. A parched, rocky and sandy wasteland, the ruins of a vast complex of urban arcology-style residences, gargantuan mega-factories, and lakes of glowing sludge dot the landscape amidst the neon-glowing mesas, buttes, and cinder cones.

 

The Glowing Wastes

The Glowing Wastes and the mutant denizens thereof are ruled by Murdreth the Techno-Mage from his Tower of Techno-Terror. Murdreth is a powerful magic-user (Techno-mage) of Chaotic and insane sort. Some say that his vast number of interchangeable super-science cybernetic enhancements drove him crazy; others say he was always so. He has an army of mutants at his disposal, as well as no few dumbot warriors and other servants, not to mention his coven of techno-mage apprentices/cultists. Rumors hold that Typhon, the Grand Master of the Banemasters, was once his apprentice; if true, it might explain the utter hatred and enmity they hold for one another.

 

The lands to the east are much like the Patchwork Lands, though more heavily tilted toward the kind of population found in the Faerie Forest, to the north (i.e., halflings, elves, dwarves, gnomes, and manimals), all organized in independent villages and hamlets. This region was regularly raided, and its peoples oppressed by the armies of the Techno-Mage, but then the power balance shifted a year ago with the arrival of the Royal Pack of the Star Wolves.

 

Cultist of the Techno-Tower Summoning a Techno-Demon

The Royal Pack are exiles/refugees from the homeworld of the Star Wolves, the world of Canosia, a planet where Wolf-Folk and Wolf-Kin and related canid demi-human and manimal races live. General Dyr-Ulf usurped the crown of the realm (the fate of King Canos is unknown); Prince Ly-Kos (Wolf-Folk Fighter (Swordsman)), the son of King Canos, fled with his loyal followers in seven starships and have settled on Legendaria to gather allies to retake their world.

 

General Dyr-Ulf leads W.O.R.G., his party/organization dedicated to world conquest, and is too busy conquering other worlds to deal with hunting the young prince himself (nor to dedicate much manpower). Thus, they are being hunted by his minion, Major Fen-Ryz, and his Hyena-Folk/Kin mercenaries. Major Fen-Ryz has allied with Murdreth and his mutants to rid the world of the Royal Pack.

 

Prince Ly-Kos Confronting a W.O.R.G. Bounty Hunter

Having settled on Legendaria a year ago, the Royal Pack of the Star Wolves almost immediately fell afoul of Murdreth and his armies, for the Royal Pack cleave to the old values of the Star Wolves – Community, Loyalty, Honesty, and Righteousness – which they believe applies to all peoples. And so, the Royal Pack have become the defenders of the innocent in the region, protecting the hamlets and villages of other goodly peoples in the name of Law. The Wolves’ Den, their Futuristic citadel, has become a beacon of justice and hope to all peoples in the region – and a focus of the wrath and power of Murdreth and his evil minions.