The Ongoing Campaign

The map of the Middle Sea world continues to grow. At the bottom of this post, there is a copy of a map of the campaign starting area.

In the lands of the sorcerer-kings, it is illegal for any magician not specially licensed (and monitored) by the sorcerer-kings to know spells of 3rd level or above. There are special police called "Inquisitors" who look for evidence of such knowledge and capture or kill such violators of the public trust. Regardless of their actual abilities, elves are generally regarded with distrust due to their association with magic. Matters may be treated differently in particular city-states, but this is the general situation.

Continual Light spells are not actually of permanent duration in the Middle Sea world, but instead last for 10 hours per level of the caster.

The Davrai nomadic people of the grasslands beyond the mountains herd horses and cattle. Their warriors spend most of their lives on horseback, or in the case of their elite Bullrider warrior society on bull-back or even aurochs-back. The majority of their people walk, including the minotaurs (which they call "davramanai") who live and work among them. Polytheists with an interest in many local spirits, they especially revere the great Sky Bull, who leads the world-herd, and his holy heifers, the Bright Cows of the Sun, the Moon, and the Earth.

In the northern parts of the grasslands, where winters grow bitter cold, live the centaur herds. There are eight tribes of centaurs, which call themselves Uighiz, Kaijit, Tagatai, Kamrat, Burkit, Dakka, Hartak, Kiyut, and Mughur. They herd sheep, which along with grass is their primary food source, and some cattle. They wear long woolen tunics and fur-trimmed hats. They organize themselves into patrilineal clans called "obok", which include as members the servants and slaves of the blood family that leads the obok. There is a web of vassalage which leads up through the noyat "princes" (singular noyan), who lead the obok, to the great Khan himself, lord of the plains. For shelter, they set up large wool-felt tents called yurts.

Centaur warriors organize themselves into decimal units. The arban ("ten") consists of ten centaur warriors, obviously, the jegun ("hundred") is ten arban (100 centaurs), the mingan ("thousand") ten jegun (1000 centaurs), and the tuman ("ten thousand" or "horde") consists of ten mingan (10,000 centaur warriors). The commander of an arban is called a beki arban ("leader of ten"), of a jegun is called a beki jegun, of a mingan is known as a noyan mingan ("prince of a thousand"), and of a great tuman is called simply a noyan ("prince", as noted above, and drawn exclusively from that stratum of society). The Khan has a special tuman called the keshik, which acts as an elite force and bodyguard of the khan. Each of the eight tribes, additionally, has a tuman, so that there are about nine tumans of warriors among the centaurs, two of which are under the direct control of the Khan. Their primary weapons are the short composite bow and the scimitar, and about 25% of a force will additionally carry small shields (for AC4) and medium lances. Only about 5% of the force are armed with firearms (usually calivers) instead of bows, and none of those carry shields.

I think that there are some rare, expensive airships, but I am not yet sure if they are lighter than air because of helium or because of magic. I'm leaning toward the latter, with propulsion via either turncrank-driven aerial screws or aerial sail arrangements.

The city-states of the sorcerer-kings are known as the Seven Cities. The largest is Hexspire, with a population of nearly 50,000. The second largest is Payn, around 40,000 people strong, which is the location of the original sorcerer-king and gives the people their name of Paynim. The smallest of the Seven Cities is Morda, a city of approximately 8500 citizens, which is ruled by a magic-user who specializes in necromancy. He has created a large workforce of zombies to aid his citizens, and plans to one day become a lich so that he can continue to provide for his people. In addition to the Seven Cities, there are more than sixty smaller towns ruled by lesser sorcerers. The rulers of the cities are all at least 14th level magic-users (the greatest being the archmage who rules in Payn), while the lords in charge of the towns range from 10th to 14th level.

The only population center that can be called a city in the Wild Coast is Libertana, with a population of around 9500 people. In addition, there are seven smaller towns, ranging from Port Tigwa (pop. 6500) to the smallest, Jomaca, with a population of around 1100 citizens. All of these towns and Libertana are scattered along the seacoast. There are around 675 villages in addition, many housing fishing communities (who frequently provide a haven for pirates in hiding) along the coast, but the majority are in the interior of the peninsula.

There are three faerie courts, two near the Kurai and one said to lie in the frozen wastes of the far northern reaches of the world. The two courts nearby are the Seelie and Unseelie (which are words that mean "peaceful" and "unpeaceful" respectively), while the one in the north is simply known as the Northern Elves. The three elven Kings are all said to be generous to those they favor, but merciless to those who transgress their laws. The Seelie King is Oberion. The Unseelie King is Finvarra. The King of the Northern Elves is Niklaas, often called Old Nick. Each has a Queen (Titania, Oona, and Marta, respectively) and a Knight who acts as a second-in-command.

The campaign starting area, from the pirate city of Libertana on an island in the northwestern corner to the sorcerer-king city-state of Marja in the east. The players will start in Hexspire, just 15 miles or so away from Stonehell Dungeon.

…that I know about the Middle Sea world.

A rough map of the campaign area. Click to make bigger. Stonehell might actually be a touch closer to Hexspire than it is on this map.

The campaign city is Hexspire. It is the largest city of the sorcerer-kings, located at the end of a bay located at the north end of the Giantspine Peninsula, protected from ocean storms by a fairly large harbor island. Being the only major port of the sorcerer-kings outside of the Grand Gulf, a great deal of sea trade passes through Hexspire, and a goodly amount of land trade comes through as well. The city is ruled by a mage whose leadership can best be described as "indifferent". He prefers to leave matters largely to his council of three advisors. Nestled in the foothills on the northern side of the mountains to the north of Hexspire lies Stonehell Dungeon, a prison founded by a previous, mad sorcerer-king of Hexspire. Dug largely by the prisoners themselves, Stonehell is a deep, extensive set of tunnels today. Adventurers come from all over the world for the privilege of delving into Stonehell to recover what treasures they can find, contending with the mad descendents of the original prisoners.

There are cloud castles that float through the skies, mostly inhabited by giants or dragons. There is one cloud city (actually a large village of about 750 inhabitants) populated by winged humans who call themselves "Falinesha", which means "the winged people". The Falinesha of the city in the clouds follow a form of the Denialist Path, though they have no monks. Other Falinesha elsewhere follow the local religion or participate in polytheist sects.

There are roving bands of traveling folk who call themselves "Jrusteli", but are usually called less pleasant names by others. They typically have painted wagons and travel in caravans. They are known for their magical prowess and divinatory skill, but also for being unrepentent thieves. How much of their reputation is actually true is another matter. They are polytheists, but will generally adopt, or pretend to adopt, the religion of whatever region they are in.

In the high mountain country southeast of the salt sea, there lives a group of humans who have lost the ability to perform normal magic (though clerical/druidic magic and illusion are still available to them; they are completely incapable of developing psionic abilities), but gained the occasional ability to manipulate time. These people have a group of elite warriors known as Timelords, which are described in an article in Dragon magazine #65. Religiously, they tend toward the Denialist Path, but there is a strong minority of Fatalists among them. They are staunch allies of the Kzaddich.

On the mountain on the western shore of the Dead Lake (the small body of water to the east of the Long Sea) stands an inaccessible castle. This is the headquarters of a demon-worshiping assassin cult known as the Kindred of Juiblex. In addition to normal men, fighters, magic-users, and thieves, there are known to be at least a few dozen spies (the name for the assassin class in the Middle Sea world) dedicated to assassination. The cult is known to sacrifice humans, and are rumored to practice cannibalism. Cult members are mostly scattered through the cities in the northern parts of the sorcerer-kings' city-states, including Hexspire.

The younger sons of the warrior aristocracy of the Kurai (including the Ardhrikai, Ilyanai, and Dessai), who do not stand to inherit, sometimes join a wolf cult. These are roaming bands of warrior youths that live off the land (and a bit of banditry). They are tolerated because they provide a layer of protection for the borders with no effort from the rulers. It is not uncommon for these cults to be led by a Ranger. Some of the wolf cults take the concept literally, deliberately infecting initiates with lycanthropy - they are usually werewolves, but werebears and wereboars are not uncommon. Members of the wolf cults, especially the lycathropic ones, are prized warriors among the Kurai, though they are treated carefully due to their unpredictability. The Banavai have outlawed the practice, as they consider it to be a perversion of the sacred form granted to humanity by the Four Elemental Gods (or so they say; more likely, it is because the wolf cults never accepted the sacred inviolability of the Tetradic Monasteries).

The Murai have a central temple located on the shores of the small salt sea in their lands. The temple is headed by the Grand Bishop, who maintains control through a hierarchy of Bishops, down to the heads of families who are considered "Family Bishops". In addition to this main hierarchy, there is a system of sending young people on a period of wandering through the various branches, and sometimes out to foreign lands. Those wandering the branches learn more about their people and act to provide enforcement of the laws and moral teachings of the Radiants from a perspective that is not tied in with the social structure of the branch. Those traveling to outside lands have a commission to spread the teachings of the Radiant Church. Most young people will spend time in each of these pursuits. During this period, they wear distinctive clothing, consisting of a patchwork poncho over their normal clothing. The poncho is always made by the women of the family from which the young person comes, and serves as a constant reminder of the love and support given to them by their family.

In addition to the Bishops, Murai branches are run by a (nominally) secular authority known as the Reeve. The branch Reeve has normal authority to enforce the laws of the land and can send a representative, or go himself, to the Great Moot. The Great Moot is where legislation occurs, with the approval of the temple. The youths on their Wander act on the authority of the Temple, and can usually overrule the Reeve if they can support their reasoning. Failing to support their reason for overruling the Reeve results in immediate ending of their Wander and lasting disgrace.

The most recent version of the map of the Middle Sea world. It covers an area about 1000 mi. east-west and 1500 mi. north-south.

…about the Middle Sea world.

Characters with a class and level are somewhat more common in the Middle Sea world than in straight AD&D 1E. Rather than 1% of the population, a full 5% have the potential to gain levels.

Some few, elite Dalings learn to bond with dragons and become Dragonlords (new character class, only available to Dalings). Dragonlords are similar to Fighters, using the Ranger experience chart, but get the advantage of having their bonded dragon present, on average, around a third of the time (varying by season and affected by circumstances). Their ability requirements are S12 I15 W15 D6 Co10 Ch10. There is about 1 Dragonlord per roughly 17,000 population of the Dales. (I first noted this in a comment on the first post in this series.)

Dalings are polytheists, and their religious life centers on worship of dragons.

The people who live in the mountains along the coast of the Kurai lands are known as Ardhrikai (ARD-hreek-eye). They are similar in many ways to the Kurai, but are insular and clannish. Similarly, the people who live on the islands are known as Ilyanai (IL-yuhn-eye), and they also keep to themselves for the most part. The people to the south (previously called "Southlanders") are known as the Dessai (DESS-eye).

The knights of the Order of St. Raphael were formed to protect pilgrims to the great mountain (I still don't know the name of it) near which their Grand Chapter Keep was erected. The mountain is a holy place to the Radiant Church, as it was the place where the Murai Prophet was granted the Golden Tablets while in his time of Exile, but also to the Tetradic Church, and is the site of several polytheist cults (who say that the peak is the home of some of the greatest gods). The knights of St. Raphael will protect any pilgrims, not just Radiant ones.

The High Keep of the Grand Chapter of the Order of St. Raphael is arranged so that sunrise on the winter solstice (or, more accurately, a couple of days after the astronomical solstice, when the sunrise is no longer moving south) is directly over the holy peak, visible through the windows behind the altar in the chapel.

The crescent of flat land to the southeast of the Kurai is forested in the west, shading to drier land in the east and south. The people who live there are known as the Banavai (BAHN-uhv-eye). They are similar to the Kurai, but have enthusiastically adopted a form of the Tetradic Church, though the religion has developed a unique form among the isolated Banavai, based around monastic centers. Despite this, the people retain a close connection to the faery peoples. (The Banavai pragmatically adopted the Tetradic faith to counter the Radiant Church to the south.) The dry dales to the north, but not those to the east or south, of the Banavai are inhabited by Dalings.

It's not currently placed on the map, but south of the Banavai is a small salt sea. The people in that area are known as the Murai. Murai baronies are called "branches".

The Tetradic Church originated among the city-states of the sorcerer-kings to the south. The Fatalist religion began on the isle of Apalach beyond the Middle Sea. The Denialists originated in the feudal kingdoms along the southeast coast of the continent. The Radiant Church began with the Prophet of the Murai, and that people are fanatical Radiants. Despite their fanaticism, they are tolerant of polytheists (including Dalings), except among the Murai themselves. That tolerance largely carries over to other Radiants, though among the Radiants outside of the Murai there is a slowly growing current of opposition to polytheism as "demon worship". Since some polytheists of the Middle Sea world do, in fact, worship demons, they sort of have a point. But because not all polytheists do, it is a form of bigotry. From the Radiant perspective, though, it is difficult to be certain, and caution is necessary. They argue that even the polytheists can't know for certain if a being claiming to be a god is actually a polymorphed demon. This attitude originates among the Fatalists, who are adamantly anti-polytheist (they are more tolerant of other Clerical religions, and even of the Denialists, however).

The southern peninsula enclosing the Long Sea is littered with buccaneer/pirate towns. The sorcerer-kings try to maintain order in the area, but a widespread attitude along the peninsula of disregard for authorities makes this difficult. For this reason, the region is often called the Wild Coast. Many famous adventurers come from the region. There are also inland villages.

The largest city of the sorcerer-kings is located on the ocean coast, just south of the Wild Coast. It is somewhat more rough-and-tumble than the other cities of the sorcerer-kings, but is certainly more ordered than the towns of the Wild Coast.

It may be possible that the Middle Sea world is actually flat. Certainly, some people think that it is.

The long island to the northwest of the Kurai is known as Dragon Isle. This is because there are a number of dragons who live on it, and it is the home of the Dragon Court. It is the most sacred place in the world to the Dalings. Humans are not allowed to live there, though a few Dalings live on the smaller island to the south of it. There are ten dragon rulers on the Dragon Isle, each unique. They are: Platinum, Chromatic, Steel, Grey, Mithril, Purple, Electrum, Yellow, Quicksilver, and Orange. Each has a name, as well, although I only know the names of the first four right now (Bahamut, Tiamat, Ahi, and Rahab).

After the ape-men, the most common nonhuman tribes are the dog-heads (gnolls).

A high-resolution version of the west coast map of the Middle Sea world

…about the Middle Sea world. In no particular order.

I know that it isn't the Earth, even though the geography is similar to North America submerged under 1000 ft of water.

South of the Middle Sea lies the Isle of Dread and the Thanegioth Archipelago.

Somewhere, probably near the western coast, lies Stonehell Dungeon. Right now, I am guessing that it is in the mountains at the south end of the southern peninsula that encloses the Long Sea.

In the deep desert there is a step pyramid that holds the Lost City.

Long ago, a traveler between the worlds known as the Gann set up a series of protective Gates in the mountains hundreds of miles to the east of the Long Sea.

PCs may only be human, but there are nonhuman intelligent species in the world.

There may be underground kingdoms, possibly occupying a continent-spanning network of tunnels. There are definitely layers of sewers, tunnels, and ruins underneath the larger cities.

On the southern peninsula that encloses the Long Sea stands an independent inn called the Inn of the Four Winds. Many mysterious rumors are attached to this place. It is known to be frequented by pirates, thieves, adventurers, and other disreputable sorts.

There are known to be kingdoms of fishmen, apparently of several different sorts. Some of these kingdoms send raiding parties against the coastal towns.

The faery races are mysterious, and no one really knows what they want. Faery races include elves, sprites and pixies, goblins, and the like. They are ruled by powerful, seemingly immortal beings. Druids and some polytheist cults seem to have some sort of connection with them.

There are a number of nonhuman species which are said to have come from the stars, including the Mind Flayers, the Ropers, the Otyughs, the Neogi (and their Umber Hulk slaves), the Mi-go, the Grell, and so on. No one knows how they could have come from the stars, though, and there are many contradictory legends about that matter.

In the wastes, in places where humans find it too difficult to live, roving bands of ape-men (similar to the orcs of some worlds, and similar to the subhumans of the film Fire and Ice) eke out a primitive existence and plot the downfall of human civilizations.

On the plain to the northwest of the tall peak about 50-60 miles north of the Long Sea stands a huge castle called the High Keep of the Grand Chapter of the Order of St. Raphael, a Holy Order of the Radiant Church. The locals call it "Great Stoney". It acts to protect travelers on the road between the towns surrounding the Long Sea and the northern lands.

In the northern and western parts of the Great Plains that lie to the east of the great mountain ranges, tribes of Mongol-like centaurs, Davrai (horse- and bull-riding barbarian nomads with minotaur allies), and a few other tribal groups stake out territories and live their nomadic existences. In the southern and coastal parts lie a number of small feudal kingdoms.

The lands around the Triple Seas are largely populated by the Kurai people, who are semi-tribal in organization. A good number of their "toutas", which other peoples might call baronies, are currently loyal to the High King Anguish Wolf-Head, but not all of them are. The Kurai send trading expeditions down the coast to the Long Sea, but some of those expeditions are little more than excuses for raiding parties.

To the north and east of the Kurai lands are a number of large valleys known as the Dales. The Dalings are a hardy, independent race who trade with the Kurai and with the nomad tribes to the east of the mountains.

The lands at the northern end of the Great Gulf in the south and down its shores are a series of city-states, each ruled by a sorcerer-king. They are allied in a precarious network of promises and treaties, but occasional hostilities break out between different city-states.

The desert between the Long Sea and the mountains far to the east are the range of nomads and dervishes, as well as ape-men.

It is said that dragons make their homes in the mountains. This is probably true.

The year is exactly 360 days long. The Moon travels from full phase to full phase in 29.5 days.

The peoples of the Apalach Island and other lands surrounding the Middle Sea are seasoned seafarers. So are the peoples who live along most of the shores of the Long Sea.

The northern peninsula enclosing the Long Sea is populated by a tribal people called the Kesh. They don't have much to do with other peoples if they can help it. Pirates tend to ignore them, as they do not have a lot of wealth. They are a polytheist people who mainly worship local spirits and entities.

The lands south of the Kurai are known as the Southlands. They are dominated by independent farmsteads and cattle ranches. The area is a central location of faery activity.

Very, very roughly, this is about 800 mi. x 1200 mi. More accurately, the distance between the two mountain peaks that make up the base of the triangle of peaks to the west of the Triple Sea area in the northern part of the map is 34.2 miles.

I'm considering using this map, which I call Middle Sea, for my game instead of the Terra Ultima one. This is a map that I've wanted to use in a game for years, and I've worked up several versions over the last 20 years or so. The first was done using tracing paper (remember that?) by hand from an atlas. I think I may still have those sheets around somewhere. I did a version when I had Fractal Terrains and Campaign Cartographer (I had those on disk, and the disks were stolen). This time, I found a website that does most of what I needed done, so I did that, then modified the images in Paint Shop Pro. They're still rough, but I do still have the working files and will probably clean them up over time.

There's another really interesting part of the world off to the east, which is where Middle Sea gets its name, but I haven't put those maps together yet, so I thought that I'd just show off the western coast of the continent.

If you haven't yet figured out where the map comes from, it's a map of North America with the water level raised by 1000 ft (308m). I got the idea from the old Chaosium wargame Lords of the Middle Sea. In that game, there is also a collapse of a large portion of the midwest due to helium extraction or something, but this game world doesn't include that.

The map that inspired the Middle Sea world

The basis of the Terra Ultima world map

Oh, what the heck. As a bonus, here is the not-nearly-cleaned-up-enough map of part of the Middle Sea itself:

The Middle Sea, surrounded by island nations to the east and south,  and by the mainland to the west. There are also more islands to the north and to the northeast of this map