The Winter Wastes

The history of the north is really a rather simple one.  It was occupied first by the prisoners, the unwanted, who had little care for the cold: Dwarves.  Predictably, they were the first to explore the mountains, and as dwarves are want to do, burrow into it.  Claiming the tunnels was by no means an easy task, and at first it was scatterings of dwarves, singular brawlers, and handful's of the little diggers who took caves near the surface as their homes.

As time progressed, they began trading with the other small outposts, and more infrequently, joining forces with each other to dig in deeper.  Eventually, small groups of dwarves returned south to the then burgeoning city of Haven(which has become Nefir Ryjah) to trade. Time passed and the dwarves fought tooth and nail to keep their holdings, but they were eventually driven out of the mountains by the sheer speed with which competition would out breed them.

Most of the dwarven clans, and clusters headed north, feeling certain they'd find another range, and that they'd learned from the failures since arriving in this new world.  They failed, but not entirely.  A number of the clans banded together, and settled in to the North east of the range.



They dug in and thus, the makings of the first northern city were carved into the stone. As years passed, more and more of the Brawlers, the trouble makers, the fierce, the problems, of the south, were taken up over the mountains and left in the wilds, to live, or die as chance had.   At first the dwarves took advantage of this, offering shelter and food in exchange for sword work to secure their new homes.

As time progressed, they dug deeper and deeper, fortifying as they went, and as the need for additional swords was outgrown, but as a charity of sorts, the dwarves allowed the cast offs to settled outside their hold. The dwarves took the small cave they began with and dug.  Generations later, they've all but built their own mountain atop the clanhold, and fortified it to withstand any foe they could imagine.

The North progressed from this to a more civilized region during the foundation and reign of the empire, however, the rough nature of the settlers hasn't changed a hair. Order in the North is strictly maintained by the military, and both of the cities have two companies of standing soldiers assigned to ensure neither safety, nor civil order are threatened.

To this day, the northern spirit is still that of brash fighters ready to cross blades at a perceived insult. As a society the north is a constant struggle between the argumentative nature of its citizens, and the harshness of the northern justice. It's been said that the northern army could conquer the west if not for the likelihood such would invite a southern advance.

The Western Wilds

To detail what occurred in this region, simply put, the empire never truly conquered it. That is to say that with all manner of odd native beasts as well as the results of spells and experiments gone awry, while the empire could secure a large portion of the continent, between the magical cataclysm, and the disadvantage of trying to hold ground from roaming predators, and tribes of humanoids, the empire could never truly chase every foe to extinction, while securing already "cleared" lands.

To explain the west, we must first realize that while things were at their most peaceful, the underground regions were at the most dangerous, but like many, trust and faith in the ruling body was easy enough and people became complacent in trusting the emperor and his children would keep the roads safe, the marauders away from civilization, and the land peaceful. There were from time to time temporary problems, but that was to be expected, and it was understood they didn't last long.

That is until the Emperor's demise.  Mardak immediately recalled all troops as the predictable first step to settling and trying to ensure this was a temporary set back, not a disaster.  Corthyra mean-while perceived this as the likely first step towards military law through out the empire, and sought out those least pleased with Mardak, and began making provisions to keep the South she knew and loved safe.

While her concern was mostly making sure there were troops to reassure the people, Mardak took it as a secession from the empire, as well as a direct challenge to his authority.  As Corthyra was not likely to rule the empire, despite being the older sister, Mardak felt she overstepped her authority by arranging the patrols in the south.  This however is tangential to our discussion of the Western wilds.

Neither sibling showed any care for the west, beyond Mardaks failed attempt to take the capital by force.

A land of mostly rolling plains, and country retreats, the west went untended, as it was neither contested land, nor particularly dangerous at the onset of the conflict.  As the years passed, the assorted creatures and savages driven underground began to find returning to the surface wasn't a quick death the way it use to be, and in an unsurprising turn, the creatures nearest the surface began to ascend and spread.

I mentioned earlier they were forced underground, and this created the predictable problem of space.  as more and more savages and predators were forced off the surface, the warring and conflicts below grew more and more violent and brief.  This in turn lead to each tribe, and pack, and group of creatures to fight meaner and meaner, as only the toughest nastiest sort would survive long.  When these sharpened, almost feral beings returned to the surface, to find space, game, and the civilized settlers, things again took the predictable turn.

Retired soldiers, pompous nobles, serving maids, and expert butlers proved little enough resistance to these bred killers from below, and in short order the empire was again forced to confront the results of its complacency.  Few of the retreats, and summer homes survived til the first winter, those few that can still be found in the west, have learned to live as if besieged, universally these have been situated at the few manse's which were built with walls around when originally constructed.  Such dwellings were usually built by retired officers, or paranoid nobles who staffed their homes primarily with retired soldiers.

The west as it stands is known to be dangerous, and its said to be second only to descending into the earth.

Introduction

Run, it's Morim the dwarf!

Yes, some of you might recognize me from the dwarf I used to play. Since dwarves rule, I'm going to keep the name and make you remember it. Right now I've finally kicked into gear Project Black Book with Mask, and things are getting done now... I like to say mostly because of me, since I'm the moral support.

I've never DMed nor do I really plan to, but I can write a good story and am capable and willing to learn how to script and build. I've done work REALbasic before, and have taken a couple HTML classes which I passed with flying colors. All in all, once I get the hang of Aurora, I'll be able to do more than just write story and "pretty" the areas up.

On a different side note, if all goes well I will be going to New York Comic Con and check out what they have. BioWare is having a booth open during the convention, and will be having a dinner for player's afterward. They're mainly promoting Dragon Age: Origins, but I reckon most of the question will be about Baldur's Gate or NWN.

Until next time,

LOVE and PEACE.

Well, I got something done recently...

In addition to working on a quest system(remind me to come back to this) I dropped several years ago.. I also conned a new fellow into semi-active work. His name is Morim, and he's a tool. Alright, alright, maybe I shouldn't slander him on his first day...


Then again, I better get him use to it right?

So in addition to getting him to sell me his soul, I also(you may have noticed) moved to a different webhost a while ago, and as of yesterday.. I put up, and semi-organized a new and better forum system. Now to be fair.. runboard was fine, (and will continue to be up while I cull useful data off it) and its good for entry level putting up a free forum for your non-profit whatever, when you know absolutely nothing.

Its simple, easy, and more a less difficult to screw it up without actively trying. However the admin panel on that thing is simply atrocious, and that makes any changing to the actual board's setup, layout, and permissions, a chore and a half.

No thanks. However, I also has standards, so PHPBB can crawl in a hole, die, and reanimate as a zombie before I think its worth the effort to seriously examine, much less use. I went with SMF, they call it "Simple Machines Forums" but me being me.. I tend to think of it as "Smurf Made Forums".

That's because its a bit cartoony, but its also easy, clear, and simple. Runboard at its best, is simplistic. And I don't say that in a positive light. So now that I'm actively putting some occasional effort into this.. it seemed time to get a nicer forums set up, and get things kicking.

I'd give you an estimate when the runboard forum will no longer be linked, but as soon as I pick a date, I'm almost sure to miss it. We'll say "Pre-2010" ok?