The League of Three Crowns

In some ways, the League of Three Crowns can be called the preeminent naval power in the Sea of Bartel. The number of trade routes in the sea, going between several wealthy powers, made it an attractive location for merchants, and with the lands of the Northmen close at hand, many of these merchants saw fit to band together for the purposes of mutual protection. Over the years, the nascent League grew powerful from both its wealth and its security, and was able to become a force in its own right.

In the simplest of terms, the League is a confederation of cities located in the region. More precisely, it is a confederation of the mercantile guilds that control both overland and maritime trade routes between these cities and beyond - but often, these guilds effectively control their cities. Many cities in Vardessy, Togarmah, and Kvesland claim membership in the League, and indeed, this reach between the three powers lends the organization its name.

However, the reference to crowns is a bit of a misnomer. Although the Emperor of Vardessy, the King of Togarmah, and the Queen of Kvesland all send delegates to the League Council in Hynden, many cities in the League are, by and large, free from the overreach of their feudal masters and answer only to the guilds, powerful enough to maintain their own armies and delegate their own laws. Despite this, the League is not a nation in and of itself so much as an alliance of cities within other nations.

In fact, League cities do not agree on all matters, even in their management, and what exactly makes a city a League city is difficult to define. The organization is a loose one - each League-affiliated guild nominates representatives to the League Council, who collectively decide on matters of management, and there are certain laws all cities abide by, but by and large every city has its own guild, which has its own structure and is managed separately. In most cases, there is still some measure of feudal authority over a League city. Some, however, are fully autonomous, with the guilds having enough wealth and power to essentially veto any royal decrees they wish and not fear reprisal - they are vassals of the crown in name only.

One thing that links all League cities, however, is that they all have the privilege of erecting a statue of a knight with a sword drawn, holding in the other hand a shield bearing the city’s coat of arms. Though the exact details vary from sculptor to sculptor, the image, usually displayed outside the town hall or in a market square, stands for both the bold independence of the city and - through its standardization - the city's deference to the League charter.

The League Council consists of representatives from the different League cities, with each individual representing one or more member settlements. It is governed by an Archmagister, who can be viewed as the head of the entire League. The current Archmagistress is Lydia Sidaranka. The scion of an influential merchant dynasty in Hynden, she was recently elected to the role, by a vote among the senior council members, after the previous Archmagister, Danne Aldrigamber, was ousted in disgrace for embezzling the League's coffers. Although a shrewd and capable businesswoman, she wasn't expecting to take on the role so suddenly, and struggles under the weight of expectations, maintaining a circle of trusted advisors to keep her on track. She is still early into her tenure, and many are hopeful that she will keep the League's prosperity alive.

Perhaps out of this hopefulness, others in the League Council tentatively put their stock in her. But when merchants are made and broken by the flow of commerce and the survival of their enterprises, the right conditions could easily cause the tides to change, and more ambitious eyes may yet see an opportunity in the Archimagistress. It is not lost on anyone that she is inexperienced and depends on others to tell her what to do, after all...

Togarmah Hex Map, Part 2

As promised, here's the second half of the Togarmah hex map. Go here for Part 1.

Click here to enlarge

Togarmah Hex Map, Part 1

With another month coming to a close in the Year of the Gazetteer, it's time for another hex map. Each hex equals six miles.

This is probably the biggest and most detailed hex map on this blog to date, and for the sake of length, I'm breaking it up into two posts. Go here for Part 2.

Click here to enlarge

A Grand Assembly

One of the tenets of the Golden Peace is that all nobles are equal, and all have opinions equally worthy of being weighed to influence the good of all Togarmah. To this end, it is a key part of the Togarman political process that the nobility gather in a system of Grand Assemblies, so that they may share their thoughts, allow their opinions to be heard, and present the reigning monarch with a statement of purpose that will guide their actions.

These Grand Assemblies, drawing voices from all corners of Togarmah, are held every two years, in the late fall when the harvest season is over and the nobility is not too busy with overseeing crop yields. Of course, these meetings are only the culmination of a number of local and regional assemblies held in the interim periods, in which nobles from a given area meet with one another to discuss matters that concern them all, and to nominate representatives who will go on to partake in the next largest assembly. For instance, these might start with all the knights of one lord's manor meeting to determine what their most pressing concerns are and what they wish to let the lord know, but at that meeting, one knight will be designated to represent the concerns of his fellows at the assembly for the barony that fief is a part of, which will elect a representative for the assembly for the county that barony is a part of, and so on. By the end of this process, each region will have a representative to send to the Grand Assembly, who will voice their region's concerns to the King.

The Grand Assemblies are always held at Castle Korogard in Venec, which holds both the residence of the royal family and a large assembly room built specifically to hold all the many representatives from throughout the kingdom. Bringing as it does nobles from all over Togarmah, these assemblies involve no shortage of pagentry as the different Togarman cities and duchies wish to put forth the best image for their people. Though a parade through the streets of Venec is not officially part of the assembly procedure, it has become customary, and has grown into a grand spectacle in its own right. For many Venecis, this is the only time they will see people from the far-flung corners of the Kingdom, and the streets are awash in a multitude of colors and textures to display the different fashions and cultures of the land. Myrov counts in doublets and hose may walk astride armored and winged Zelsky chieftains, Polavians in their diaphonous sleeves, Gundalian boyars in fur-lined brocade, and Leshic wise women in embroidered cloaks - and all of them enjoy equal status.

To account for the vast numbers of nobles and their entourages attending, the Grand Assembly lasts six weeks from when the delegates arrive to when they return home. In that time, they are free to mingle with one another, debate important matters, and explore Venec. Naturally, the capital's population swells during this period, so Venec (and the roads leading to and from it) has many large and prestigious inns that cater to visiting nobles. It is considered a mark of honor for one of these inns to have housed an important dignitary, and competition between inns to attract the most celebrated guests possible can be fierce during the assembly season.

By the end of each Grand Assembly, the delegates are expected to produce a document outlining the most pressing concerns that impact the entire Kingdom and what they desire be done about them. This is presented to the King and his Royal Council. Strictly speaking, nothing in this proposal is binding, and the King has the final say in what to do - though to overrule the concerns of the nobility is considered incredibly gauche, and given that the Golden Peace promises nobles the right to rebel, many kings defer to these guidelines as a practical matter to ensure stability as much as for the sake of politeness.

Though the Grand Assembly is held every two years, extraordinary matters - such as a crisis that threatens all of Togarmah - may lead to an additional assembly being called at any time. The most common reason for this is the death of a reigning monarch. In this instance, the high priest of the Cult of Solenna assumes the throne in the interim while a series of assemblies is called to first determine the dates for the election of the next monarch, who the candidates will be, and what laws the new monarch will have to abide by; then to conduct the election and the coronation.

In these assemblies, every noble in Togarmah is welcome to attend and vote; it is believed that everyone has a voice worthy of being heard. Because of this, the Castle often does not have enough room for all the visiting delegates, and a camp is made on the plains outside the city limits instead. Votes are cast publically, verbally, and openly. Because of this, and because of the many armed retainers present, it has not been unheard of for skirmishes to break out if the tide of the election seems to start going in a direction certain delegates dislike, but usually they get resolved fairly quickly.

The process of electing a new king dates back to the Kingdom of Polavia, which adopted the practice at times when a reigning monarch died without an heir. However, with the rising powers of the nobility over the monarchy, this has evolved into the standard practice every time a monarch dies - although often times the king's heir is named as a candidate at the election, and usually they end up getting voted in anyway, by virtue of being the heir. However, many times there has been a dark horse victor, often because ambitious nobles saw one of the candidates as an easy target for manipulation or as a weak ruler who would allow them to expand their reach untested.

The candidates for a royal election do not have to be Togarmans. In fact, often times, foreign candidates are sponsored by the nobility because their nature as outsiders means they will have little influence over the populace to keep the nobility in check with - or even by foreign powers who bribe the electorate to appoint them to the throne (or their rivals to the throne in order to destabilize their holdings if their attention is split between two realms). Because of the unique nature of Togarmah's government, such a personal union does not necessarily mean the monarch's powers will apply equally - such is the case of Ealdric of the Two Thrones, who was simultaneously King of Togarmah and Emperor of Vardessy. He hoped that he would be able to bring Togarmah into the Vardessian sphere of influence by doing so, only to find that the local nobles had enough sway to counteract many of his decisions, and when he died, the Togarmans held a new election rather than passing the throne to the next Emperor.

The current king is Marek III. He is a man of noble intentions who wants the best for Togarmah, but feels that his attempts to further his plans have been stifled at every turn by the machinations of the nobles. Though he finds this frustrating, he realizes that to overrule their decisions would be to risk upsetting powerful factions within the Kingdom, which could throw it into chaos, and he feels that doing so would cause more trouble than it would solve. However, should a crisis of sufficient magnitude to tie the nobles' hands arise, he would not be opposed to exerting his authority...

Grand Assembly Adventure Seeds (d20)

1. A noble patron of the party is attending a Grand Assembly, and has chosen the PCs as their entourage for protection during the journey to Venec.

2. The Grand Assembly has brought some of the most powerful and influential people in Togarmah together...which naturally presents security risks. Someone is looking to launch an attack - is it a display of power? An attempt to usurp a rival? Is it to obtain a ransom by holding the nobles hostage?

3. One of the nobles at the Castle has been found dead during a meeting of the Grand Assembly. Obviously, one of the other delegates must be responsible - but who?

4. With visiting nobles stopping in town on the way to the Grand Assembly, there's no room in any of the inns - what are some travelers passing through to do if they need a place to sleep?

5. While present at a meeting of the Grand Assembly, the PCs run into an old enemy of theirs who nonetheless holds a noble title. The Golden Peace prevents anything from being done about it, but surely they're up to no good. Or are they?

6. A procession en route to the Grand Assembly has been found dead on the side of the road - still carrying the noble's signet ring and important certificates. This could be the perfect opportunity to impersonate them, and perhaps gain great power by doing so - of course, at great risk.

7.  A disagreement during a Grand Assembly has gone south, and now rival factions are threatening to break out into civil war - with the PCs caught in the middle!

8. During a heated argument, one of the nobles has stormed out during a session of the Grand Assembly, which threatens to hold up the proceedings. Can the PCs talk some sense into them?

9. A great banquet is to be held for a delegation visiting on the way to a Grand Assembly, but the head of the party has expensive tastes, and the cooks don't have a rare ingredient necessary for the dish. Can the PCs find it? Obviously, disappointment is not an option.

10. When it's discovered that one delegate attending the Grand Assembly is carrying a map to great treasure, it's a race between several rival factions - potentially including the PCs - to get to it first!

11. With two rival innkeepers both trying to court the attention of an influential noble attending the Grand Assembly, one (or both!) of them decides to hire the PCs to sabotage the other so the noble will pick theirs instead.

12. Turns out one of the PCs looks a lot like someone who's supposed to be here for the Grand Assembly, and people got confused. How will they react to all the attention they're getting now?

13. Word has arrived to a noble patron of the PCs that the delegate they sent to the Grand Assembly has been assassinated and a forged decree is being sent instead that threatens to sabotage their efforts. It's up to the PCs to get to Venec before their patron can be compromised.

14. Obviously nobles can make great allies, and one passing through on the way to the Grand Assembly could prove a valuable asset to the party - but they need to earn their respect before they'll do anything to help the cause.

15. A magician has placed a spell over a delegate at the Grand Assembly that allows them to control their thoughts and actions. How can the PCs prove what's going on before it's too late? And what are the wizard's motives here?

16. Some way or another, the PCs have insulted the honor of an influential noble heading to the Grand Assembly. They'll need to clear their name if they want to go unharrassed in that noble's domain.

17. With the local lord away at the Grand Assembly, their fief seems ripe for the takeover. Can the PCs stop such a coup...or are they behind it?

18. There's no shortage of bandits on the road looking to threaten nobles on their way to the Grand Assembly to give up their wealth in exchange for protection. Something must be done about that!

19. Several nobles attending the Grand Assembly have parked their carriages here, and surely they have valuable belongings stowed within. Seems like the perfect setup for a heist.

20. A minstrel entertaining guests at the Grand Assembly is in need of new material - and thinks that the PCs could serve as inspiration for a heroic ballad if they perform a great quest in the area.

Mystics of the Forest

The thick woodlands of southern Togarmah are known to be confounding and impenetrable. Deep in the forest, the brush and the tree trunks form obstructive hedges, while roots and moss make for rocky and uneven ground. The trails are narrow and twisting, and many a traveler has gotten lost there. In the furthest depths of the forest, when foliage is in full bloom, the sun's light never reaches the ground, and the canopies above shroud the forest floor in darkness. Whispered stories tell of wild beasts, elves, and things even worse. But there are still people who make these woods their home.

Of the many Togarman peoples, the Leshes are the most at home in the dense forests. They make their villages in the clearings, trails, and glades where there is enough space for men to thrive. Like the other tribes, their lives are influenced by the geography - obviously, wood plays an important role in their material culture, and many of them make a living as woodcutters. They export many finely made wooden crafts, which are known throughout Togarmah, and their halls and temples - intricately carved and often brightly painted - boast some of the finest wooden construction, achieving feats rivaling even those of the greatest masons. Due to the limited amount of space, they do not farm as much as their neighbors, though whatever land is available for grazing and planting is fertile, and they are fiercely defensive of it against invaders. Instead, they sustain themselves through hunting game and gathering roots, berries, and mushrooms in the forest - the latter of which plays an important role in their spiritual traditions.

Mushrooms form a key part of Lesh cuisine. They have mastered many ways of preparing them - roasting them, stewing them, and even brewing them into tea. But they also harvest certain kinds of mushrooms for their hallucinogenic properties, which are highly prized and allowed to be handled only by the priestly class, who consume them to inspire visions. For some villages, the mere harvest of these mushrooms is an undertaking of great importance, involving making journeys to far-flung places and braving all the dangers that entails.

Many Leshes adhere to the Old Faith, worshiping nature, fey spirits, and the ancestors; like the Zelskys, even those who practice Pantheonism do so with the same rites and rituals. To this end, those in search of guidance often turn to druids. Some of these mystics live alongside huntsmen and woodcutters in the villages, but others live solitary existences as hermits, needing to be sought out by those who need their aid for interpreting omens or conferring blessings. Often times, a Lesh noble court will have a druid or two close at hand to confer with for matters beyond the reach of worldly authority.

The Leshes largely live in isolation from the rest of Togarmah, owing to the inhospitable woodlands and their strange traditions; it is said that not even the King knows how many Leshic villages there are. Before the conquests of Ghammorz, they were never united under a single crown. Nevertheless, they rarely attack outsiders and are content to follow their own path as long as they aren't bothered. Under the Golden Peace, they are legally not considered barbarians, and their clan leaders (traditionally, a role filled by women) are considered nobles with all the rights and privileges as a Polavian lord or a Myrov count. The Myrovs to the west and the Stalozi mountaineers to the east maintain relations with the Leshes for trade, and the Leshes benefit from the access this brings them to metal tools, grains, and other goods hard to come by in the woods. Furthermore, the Leshes are known for their archery, a skill in which every man trains in from a young age, and this has led to their bowmen being hired into many a general's warband. The neighboring nobles also value maintaining good relations with the Leshes because they make for good scouts and guides, knowing the right trails to get through forests that baffle outsiders. For those who need to cross such woodlands, be it for trade or diplomatic endeavors to the court assemblies, or even simply on hunting expeditions, one is often completely lost without a Lesh guide - though many mark their trails with different colored ribbons tied to trees or stripes of paint on their bark, the meanings behind this system of signals is often comprehensible only to those raised in the forest.

Overall, the ways of the Leshes might seem inscrutable to outsiders, and perhaps even intimidating. But every Togarman who knows the Leshes knows they can be counted on in times of need - and they have no interests in disturbing that peace.

The Myrov Mariners

Judging from the tales told by travelers at taverns and around campfires, one could be forgiven for assuming that Togarmah is a gloomy, foreboding wasteland of craggy peaks, wind-battered plains, and mist-shrouded forests. Not so. While the Kingdom has plenty of those things, it also has some regions that many would call downright pleasant. After all, Solenna is the Togarmans' patron goddess, so surely the sun shines somewhere. And perhaps the jewel of Togarmah is the coastal domains of the Myrovs.

Though perhaps not as wealthy or as powerful as the Polavians, the Myrov clans were a formidable power in the days before the unification of Togarmah, controlling a few kingdoms and city-states along the western coast. This rise to power was aided by several factors - not only was the coastal climate more mild than that inland, allowing for more comfortable lives and longer and more bountiful crop harvests, the Myrov states had access to the water, allowing trade down the coast south to Vardessy and north into the Sea of Bartel and the Northlands. Furthermore, the Myrov lands boast plentiful forests, which made ship-building a prominent industry among their people. Not only do they supply timber to the thinly forested North, they build great ships of their own, taking them on voyages to foreign ports and returning with wealth. This strategic location allowed the Myrovs to profit greatly off of trade, and many proud merchant dynasties in the region today can trace their lineage back centuries.

The Myrovs still had use for war, though. They would soon learn that the Northmen could not be relied on to always come in peace, and to this day, their cities boast robust walls to repel raids, with Myrov castles dotting the coast. Furthermore, not all Myrovs were inclined to make their wealth through honest means, and the region developed a reputation for piracy as these fierce fighters turned their swords against any merchant vessels unlucky enough to attract their ire. Even now, many Myrovs can be found in the service to other lieges, lending their services out as mercenaries - or privateers.

Red hair is a trait commonly associated with Myrov ancestry in Togarmah, and it seems to be particularly common among these people, but is by no means universal. It is noteworthy that this feature is also not uncommon in Northmen, which has led several to speculate that the Myrovs have a higher than average amount of Northman blood - though it is wise not to make such an accusation to a Myrov's face unless you want to get punched.

Today, the Myrov cities remain some of Togarmah's richest ports. Some have fallen under the sway of the League of Three Crowns, some are loyal to the crown or other nobles, and others retain a bold independence, with their merchant princes holding a tight grip over the economy. They remain the backbone of Togarmah's navies and merchant fleets, and they can be found almost anywhere there is access to the sea, whether as traders or sellswords.

The Mountain Folk

Togarmah is a land of contrasts, and that does not stop at the multifold nature of its people. Although the north and central regions of the kingdom are dominated by rolling plains, the south, especially along the border with Vardessy, is a great chain of rugged mountain ranges. Though not approaching the grandeur of the Halvards, they are nonetheless wild and inhospitable, with steep cliffs, howling winds, and snow-capped peaks. The Balinoks, the Doldaks, the Stados - whatever the range, they are known and feared to travelers throughout the region.

Such a harsh land breeds harsh people. Though the people of southern Togarmah - the Korjans, Barovians, Gundalians, and Jaloviks - do not fear raids by orcs or Zelskys, they have little contact with the outside world, owing to their seclusion in the hills and valleys. They are not as wealthy as their northern neighbors, nor as connected by commerce and diplomacy, and they tend to be a dour, insular sort. They rarely make jokes, they are often hesitant to trust strangers, and it is a bit of folk wisdom in Togarmah that a mountaineer will have a superstition for everything, whether it be sprinkling rice in front of their doorstops to distract vampires or tossing salt over their shoulders into the eyes of lurking demons. Still, word travels fast in these lands, and one who earns the respect of these stern people will soon find themselves regarded as a trusted and dependable ally.

That is not to say that these people do not have anything to be happy about. Though arable land is scarce in the rocky mountains, that which is there is quite fertile; there are a fair few volcanoes in the southern ranges, and though they have long sat dormant, their ash blesses the valleys below with fecund soil. So too, the high mountains block northerly winds, allowing the lower valleys to maintain a warmer climate than the open plains. Grapes and plums are a famed crop, and Togarman wines - including the local specialty of aszu, a type of sweet wine made from grapes afflicted by noble rot - are inevitably southern imports, often fetching a high price in the north.

Communities in southern Togarmah tend to be on the smaller side, with villages and homesteads scattered amidst the steep hills and dense, deep forests, surviving off of farming, woodcutting, and herding of livestock through mountain meadows. In addition, the natural seclusion the mountains provide has made them home to many monasteries and hermitages. Many dwarven holds are located in the mountains as well, thanks to their rich veins of ore and subterranean rivers of lava to sustain forges - though these holds are secluded ones too, often with their gates expertly carved to be nearly indistinguishable from the rock. In Togarmah, one may pass a dwarf citadel without even noticing. And even if one did seek the company of the dwarves, the mountaineers regard them as a fickle, uncaring people whose trust must be carefully earned and whose patience is not to be tested - though their enchanted crafts are the stuff of legend.

The mountains limit the scope of any ambitious nobles' plans for expansion, causing isolated domains and petty baronies to thrive here, often laying down the law on their own terms and with little oversight from their feudal lieges. Under the Golden Peace, all nobles of these lands have the right to participate in local elections and are expected to appoint representatives to the court, though not many choose to make the journeys to the grand assemblies, and word from those representatives does not often get back to their homelands. This, consequently, leads to tyrants often ruling their domains by force and oppressing the hapless populace. On the flip side, the mountainous lands provide a natural barrier to invasion - there are many strategic points that castles were build upon, and in the face of foreign incursions, the mountaineers simply retreat into the hills and starve out their would-be conquerers. Even Ghammorz's empire faced difficulties in the southern mountains, and in many cases resorted to bullying local nobles into paying them tribute and keeping them in control as long as they stayed loyal; it was less work than storming every valley and taking out every lord and baron.

Art by James Paick

Of course, it is not only one's fellow man one has to fear in the mountains. Greedy nobles and ruthless bandits are a threat, yes - but so are the monsters lurking in the woods, and the restless spirits of the dead. The nights in the southern valleys are quiet ones, as everyone knows that things lurk in the shadows and are best left undisturbed. Around every hearth, at night, ghoulish stories are told to reinforce these fears. There are werewolves in the forests, ghosts that roam the roads, vampires in their crypts. There are cults to the powers of the Old Faith that still tend to their menhirs and circles - and some worshiping even darker powers. And one should hope they aren't unlucky enough to live under the eye of a tyrant who has made pacts with such supernatural forces...

The Horse Lords

Art by Joan Francesc Oliveras

Orcs are not the only raiders of the Polavian Steppe. The expansive flat lands of the northern plain provide plenty of pasture for grazing horses, and the horses in turn allow their tamers to travel long distances over the endless seas of grass. For this reason, the steppe gave rise to the Zelskys, a tribe dubbed the Horse Lords for their mastery of the beasts. Under the Kingdom of Polavia, the Zelskys were a constant threat, engaged in on-and-off periods of warfare with their more sedentary neighbors - and they proved formidable foes, earning both fear and respect from the Polavians.

The Zelsky way of life grew around the horse, and they rely on the animals for many purposes. Every Zelsky learns to ride a horse from the same time they learn to walk. In fact, historians believe the Zelskys were the first people to domesticate horses. They rely on horses to provide them with transport for trade, hunting, and warfare alike, and they also use them for meat, milk, leather, and fiber from their hairs. Although the Zelskys are known for their consumption of horse meat - though the role horse plays in their diet is often exaggerated in travelers' accounts - they view the animals as sacred, knowing they owe their lives to their steeds and that they would be unable to survive in the vacuous plains without them. The slaughter of a horse is not a task to be taken lightly, and may only be done under the auspices of a priest or shaman (there are adherents to both Pantheonism and the Old Faith among the Zelskys, but which gods they pray to makes little difference in their customs) to determine if the animal is fit for slaughter, using an complex system of laws and standards that outsiders struggle to understand.

Despite the mobility of their lifestyle, the Zelskys are not truly nomadic. They reside in permanent villages, often in simple timber longhouses build from wood harvested from the scattered stands of trees among the plains, and they do grow some crops. However, the soil in the inland plains they reside in is not as rich as that in other lands, and the bulk of their diet comes from hunting, gathering, and herding sheep and cattle over the steppe, as well as trading and raiding with their neighbors. Their villages are small and have little in the way of businesses or stores, for they are not one to stay in one place for long. Although Zelskys will maintain a home in a particular village with their immediate family, it is not uncommon for them to travel long distances, sometimes even days away, to herd their animals or to perform raids. Even if they are not going quite so far afield, they spend much of the day in the saddle, only returning home to dine, drink, and rest when the sun sets. Because of this, the Zelsky clans tend to be dispersed over wide areas, and a particular family may have branches in several villages miles apart. This way, even if they are far from home, they can easily find relatives to stay with just about anywhere. If they cannot, they can at least find in-laws or cousins, only using inns as a last resort.

In the past, the scarcity of the Zelsky's lives meant they often turned to raiding to sustain themselves. Existing as they did on the perimeter of the Polavian heartland, incursions by Zelskys were a common threat, and one that the many fortresses surrounding Venec were built to protect against. The relationship between the Polavians and the Zelskys varied by the year, sometimes even by the season. Some times the Zelskys would wage war on nearby fiefdoms, while other times Polavian nobles would make pacts with Zelsky clans, relying on them to provide military support - sometimes against other Zelsky clans. It was not uncommon for a noble to have a Zelsky warlord in his employ for a few months, and for that same warlord to go back to raiding his former liege after that term expired. For both peoples, this was a fact of life. It was as it always had been, and there was no use in changing that.

However, the Orc Wars managed to bring the Polavians and the Zelskys into somewhat of a permanent truce. Both civilizations had fought off orcish incursions before, but the threat of Ghammorz's empire was one too great for either of them to contend with alone. Both united to fight off the orc hordes, and in the centuries that followed, the Zelskys entered the Golden Peace alongside their neighbors. Their leaders are treated as nobility just the same as any landed gentry, taking on the same titles, and partaking in the same assemblies. One of Togarmah's most celebrated kings, Khar I, was in fact a Zelsky, elected to the position for his martial valor.

That is not to say that raids do not happen, but for the most part, the peace is kept by trade and law, and there has never been an all-out war between a coalition of Zelsky clans and the Polavians under the Golden Peace. Large-scale conflicts are usually between individual clans or against orcs, or else they occur as part of more widespread civil wars, often with Zelsky clans fighting on various sides. Still, they are known as fierce warriors. They are skilled with a lance, and their mounted archers are feared throughout the known world. On the battlefield, they often strap great wings made of wood and steel to their backs, giving them an imposing presence indeed.

It is notable that, in their traditions of riding and raiding, the Zelskys have much in common with the Horse Orcs. Many Zelskys boast orcish blood in their veins, and some have even intermarried with orc clans to produce fearsome alliances. The notion that all Zelskys are at least part orc is a false and derogatory one, however - it is more apt to say that the similarities between them were shaped by similar circumstances and the free trade of ideas on the plains. Whatever the case is, the Zelskys are a proud people, and their nobles hold firmly to their titles under the ideals of the Golden Peace. No matter how large his muscles are, how many weapons he carries, or how much he smells of horse sweat, it is unwise to call a Zelsky duke a barbarian, unless you intend to pick a fight.

The Polavian Steppe

Before the Orc Wars, the largest and strongest of the Togarman kingdoms was the Kingdom of Polavia, which ruled the northern steppes. Today, this region still forms Togarmah's political and cultural heartland. The majority of Togarmah's monarchs have been Polavians, and the old kingdom's capital, Venec, is now the seat of governance for Togarmah. To their friends, the Polavians are a wealthy people, proud of their heritage among kings, and worthy bearers of the virtues of chivalry and honor. To their rivals, they are the puppeteers behind the Togarman throne - a bunch of pompous blowhards who throw around their weight to silence the power of nobles further afield and undermine the principles of the Golden Peace.

Polavia consists largely of flat grassland, interspersed with hills and forests. This is what allowed for its rise to power in its heyday - not only was the land easy to settle and provided fertile harvests, the ease of travel (and the ease of spotting invading armies) allowed for the early rulers of the land to secure dominance over their neighbors, first through conquest and diplomacy, and then through the establishment of trade routes that brought great wealth to Venec. Today, much of Polavia is cultivated, and it is home to many farms and villages, making it the breadbasket of Togarmah.

However, for the same reasons, Polavia was also vulnerable to outside excursions. With little in the way of difficult terrain or easily defensible passes compared to the more mountainous lands to the south, rivals could swarm Polavian settlements and establish a foothold with ease. For many generations, the kingdom held off such threats, repelling raids by Northmen and by the Zelsky horsemen they shared the plains with. But when the orcs attacked, not even an alliance of convenience between the Polavians and the Zelskys could hold firm against conquest.

Such risks shaped the development of Polavia - its cities are often walled, and a network of castles were established in concentric circles around Venec in order to ward against threats. These fortresses double as a warning system - since one can see for miles on the plains, if one castle is attacked, it can light a beacon to signal to the next in line, allowing its defenders to prepare should one line of defense fall or if reinforcements are needed. Thanks to the Golden Peace, few beacons have been lit in recent history, and many of these castles have grown over time into cities of their own. Still, the ring of castles still serves an important purpose in the era of the Golden Peace. They offer accommodations for nobles traveling to Venec to attend the Kingdom's council meetings (commoners are not allowed to stay there, unless part of a noble's entourage), and they also serve as the capital's main line of defense - considering Venec has no gates.

It was a part of the founding charter of Togarmah that the capital be open to all nobles, owing to their status as equals under the Golden Peace. To that end, all gates and portcullises in the city's walls were symbolically removed, and even to this day, they have not been reinstated; it is believed that to do so would be to cast doubt on the security of the Golden Peace and bring misfortune upon Togarmah. Though the city still maintains a garrison of guards, anyone can walk through the now-empty archways and into the streets. It is believed that the encircling castles, and the sanctity of the Golden Peace, will do the rest of the work - and so far, it has, so no one is really willing to test it.

Every two years, the most powerful nobles in Togarmah (each elected from a series of regional councils, which handle things in a similar fashion) are called to Venec to attend a grand council, where they put forth their concerns and desires for the future of the Kingdom and assemble a proclamation that they then put forth to the King, as a means of informing him of his peoples' needs. To house the influx of delegates and their entourages, Venec is noted for its many inns, many of them quite large and well-appointed to fit the standards of their guests. This custom also contributes to the city's cosmopolitan character - because the councils bring in visitors from all across Togarmah, there are neighborhoods where all matter of languages may be spoken, songs may be sung, and food may be served, reflecting the Kingdom's many regions. In some cases, these districts were established by retainers in the service to distant nobles who were taken by Venec's charms and decided to stay; in others, they grew around inns that catered to guests from particular regions, adopting their native culture to make them feel more at home. In many cases, both these things are true.

Any discussion of Venec would surely be incomplete without mention of the Order of the Eternal Flame. The most powerful order within the cult of the sun goddess Solenna, its headquarters is a few miles from Venec, in a complex that contains the Grand Temple, dormitories for both monks and nuns (both belong to the Order. For obvious reasons, they are not allowed to sleep together. Also for obvious reasons, this is one of the rules most frequently broken), and barracks where the Order's paladins and templars train. However, most worship among members of the Order takes place in a central open-air cloister, where members gather to commend the celestial body on days where the weather permits it, often spending hours in meditation on the sun. The Order is named for a brazier at the center of this cloister, kept burning continually to represent the sun, with all its light and warmth; this means the complex can easily be spotted at night.

Solenna is the patron goddess of Togarmah, and there is evidence she has been worshipped there even during the time of the Old Faith. Even in modern times, the Cult of Solenna plays an important role in Togarmah's politics, and the elected King must be approved by the high priest of Solenna before taking the throne (though this is mostly symbolic, as - owing mainly to pressure from the nobility - the high priest has never declined a nominee in centuries).

By tradition, the high priest of Solenna's cult is always a member of the Order of the Eternal Flame. The current one is Patriarch Otho VI, a jovial old man who has broken with the Order's monastic roots by playing a much more public role, often visiting Venec to participate in ceremonies and leading processions on important occasions. He believes that, as Solenna is a goddess of hope and happiness, it is important for him to uphold the morale of the people and to provide the Cult with a face they can trust. Other high-ranking clerics, however, are less convinced. Some fear that he endangers the sanctity of the Order's mysteries by living among the laity, and others are worried that an opportunistic assassin will find him a perfect target...

Land of the Golden Peace

If you ask a Vardessian to describe a Togarman, you'll often hear the same things - usually unflattering. They are a coarse people who live in the woods, drink heavily, wear deer skins, weep openly, and have a morbid sense of humor.

If you ask a Togarman to describe a Togarman, though, he will not know what you mean. He will, however, have plenty of appelations for his neighbors. The Veneci are pompous, the Zelskys eat horse meat, the Korjans drown themselves in wine, and the Leshes speak in tongues. As they would remind you, there is no such thing as "a Togarman." There are many peoples who belong to the banner of the tethered unicorn, and many of them would be quite insulted by being lumped together.

The people of the Togarman lands are united by a common heritage, but that heritage has long since divulged into a multitude of languages and cultures, and often an individual citizen will have more loyalty to their brothers and sisters at home than to their cousins far afield. In fact, not all Togarmic peoples pay homage to the same king. The majority of the population of Kvesland is of Togarmic stock, even if the noble classes are descended from Northmen, and Vardessy controls a Togarman March. Then there are the numerous cities on the Togarman coast that belong to the League of Three Crowns, and will often side with their interests. Nevertheless, the Togarmah most known to foreigners is the Kingdom of Togarmah - though it encompasses many lands and many peoples, they have long stood as one.

In ages past, the land that is now Togarmah was split between several kingdoms and tribes. Occasionally some of these petty kingdoms would stand together against a raid by Northmen, but they would wage war against each other just as often. There were too many competing interests for the tribes to come together for a lasting peace, it was thought, and blood feuds between rival clans could not so easily be forgiven.

That changed with the coming of the Orc Wars.

Some four hundred years ago, the great orc chieftain Ghammorz the Maneater surveyed his wealth - gold, jewels, horses, and land won by his great force of arms and strategic cunning. Already, he had cowed his rivals and amassed legions to his name, with would-be contenders finding no choice but to swallow their pride and throw their lot in with him. Many orcs would be content with the glory and riches such strength brought. But Ghammorz hungered for more. He had already achieved so much, he wished to see how much more he could truly attain. He wanted to make a legacy to be remembered - he wanted to become the greatest warlord the orcs would ever know.

Few would deny he succeeded.

In a series of campaigns, Ghammorz and his allies managed to conquer the Togarman lands, forging an empire to rival the nascent Vardessy. Some Togarman nobles saw fit to pledge tribute to the orcs so that they might be spared, but others stayed and fought - but they were no match for the hordes. They were driven from their ancestral homes and fled to Vardessy, seeking refuge from the unstoppable onslaught.

The nobles of Vardessy could not stand for such an injustice to their brothers in arms (or perhaps they just feared having such a fearsome empire on their borders, or had too many second sons without fiefs to their name and needed some land to conquer for themselves). They joined forces with the displaced Togarmans and launched a campaign of their own to retake the lands conquered by the orcs. It was a long and bloody conflict, lasting for generations of on-and-off warfare, but in the end, the last successors to Ghammorz's empire were brought to heel, and Togarmah was again free.

And then, something incredible happened. In uniting against the orcs, the Togarmans found a common enemy, and a common purpose. So too, when returning to their old manors, they found that the orcs had appointed regional governors and vassals, creating a system that managed to unite the disparate kingdoms where they could not. It proved such a thing was possible - and with that in mind, it was deemed that a divided Togarmah was too vulnerable to threats from outside, be they Northmen, orcs, or the neighboring realms of Vardessy and Kvesland, who perhaps could not be trusted to be allies forever.

Thus was issued the Golden Peace. In order to unite such fractured lands, the Togarmans developed a system of governance that some scholars would compare to the republics of the City-States and of Valossa, though Togarmans insist they are a kingdom. Under the laws of the land, all of noble birth - no matter their wealth, origin, or the size of their domain - had equal claim to the throne. To prevent kin-strife from tearing the young kingdom apart, the monarchy would not be passed down from parent to child; instead, whenever the reigning monarch dies, an assembly is called of all nobles in Togarmah who wish to attend to nominate one among their number to take the throne. All may come, and all votes are counted equally.

This system gives the nobility of Togarmah great power; in theory, even the most minor knight has a say in shaping the kingdom's future. Because of this, even though the King has all the authority such an esteemed position demands, he is still beholden to the interests of his peers; one who wishes to be King rarely does so without support from powerful allies. Furthermore, each time a monarch is elected, the nobility also decide on a charter that determines what policies they may enforce and what rights of the gentry must be respected (this is drawn up anew for every monarch, reflecting the shifting interests of the courts over time), forming an agreement by which the King rules by the assent of his subjects. One long-standing right has been the right of revolution, stating that a King who has lost the faith of his vassals has brought retribution upon himself, and that it is not an act of treason for rebellious nobles to take up arms - at least, as long as they succeed in the goals of their uprising.

In practice, this often leads to a weak central government, with its control over regional leaders curtailed by the very structure that gave it power. Although theoretically every noble's vote is equal, the feudal system still ensures that those in the lower ranks are indebted to those above them, and they may be pressured to vote in their masters' interests. So too, the system is ripe for exploitation from foreign powers, who may seek to influence the dukes and princes who hold the most sway so that they might appoint weak or loyal kings. There have even been times where the nobles were unable to reach a consensus on a new monarch, leading to two or three candidates claiming power and waging civil war. But the Golden Peace has ensured that no foreign power has held all of Togarmah since the Orc Wars - and at least when succession crises do occur, they do so in a relatively controlled environment.

Good Artists Borrow...

This is somewhat of a follow-up to my previous post about the role of "canon lore" as it pertains to TRPGs, and how I care for it (answer: not very much). One thing I admire about the OSR community is their commitment to the open-ended freedom of the hobby - they're not ones to concern themselves with how things "should" be, and they take pride in mixing and matching content from different sources.

You'll often see published adventures being referred to as "modules," and even though that parlance isn't in official use over at Wizards of the Coast, people still use the term to refer to their 5e adventures. This reflects a conception of the purpose of published adventures as being, well, modular - the idea is that they would be quests, encounters, and locations you could drop into an ongoing campaign so you wouldn't have to draw out a bunch of maps in advance. Over time, this gave way to adventures being entire pre-built campaigns expected to be played from start to finish, and with it, some of the do-it-yourself nature of campaign worlds has been lost. But it's definitely not lost in the OSR scene, and often you'll find DMs discussing how they work different modules into their settings.

I use the Lunar Lands to run almost all of my games. This includes campaigns I've run from modules - and I've made use of modules that originally came from a number of different settings and even systems (as Dave Hargrave put it, the numbers don't matter, only the ideas). As a result, my campaign map is a patchwork of original content and stuff taken from various writers. Yes, this does often result in me needing to tweak material to fit my setting - changing NPC names, scaling back the level of magic, and so forth - but I find that can be just as engaging as writing original material. It's like putting pieces of a puzzle together and seeing how well they can fit, and I hope to create something that's more than the sum of its parts.

To put things in perspective, here's a list of the different locations I've used from different modules, and where I placed them in the Lunar Lands. Some of these are locations I've used; others are locations I placed on the map should I need them in any of my sandbox campaigns. I should warn anyone now, this post is not safe for canon purists!

And a big shout-out to Bryce of Ten Foot Pole, who picks up the burden of reviewing more modules than you could expect one man to do so and stay sane. Without him, I wouldn't have known about some of these.

Click to enlarge

Classic Modules

• I've seen it written once that every old-school D&D setting should have the Keep on the Borderlands and the Village of Hommlett in them somewhere, and this is no exception. I placed Hommlett in the territory of Redwald, while the Keep (named Snowhall Keep) is on the border between the Vardessian imperial core and the Ukian March, across from the Caves of Chaos (now named Broken Skull Cavern).
• Although I haven't read as much of the original Clark Ashton Smith stories as I perhaps should, I do find the hex map of Averoigne included in Castle Amber to be a nifty little mini-setting inspired by medieval history and folklore, which of course I can't get enough of. It's been dropped in as the City-State of Vyonnes.
• As an avowed follower of the British Old-School, I have a special soft spot for the modules put out by TSR UK, before they were Games Workshop. I've run The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh in my setting, even before Ghosts of Saltmarsh was released, and the town of Saltmarsh is in the Vardessian province of Gundarsland. Yes, I'm aware it should be Salzsumpf, but my players still called it Saltmarsh and I got used to it.
• As part of a sandbox campaign, I had plans to throw in the Fell Pass from The Dragon issue 32 on the border between Taldameer and Golnir as an obstacle for my players to get past as part of an overland journey to Quel'Ahma. The campaign didn't last that long, unfortunately, but it's still there on the map.
• Little-known fact: during the 2e era, TSR put out a few sourcebooks on gaming in different historical eras. One of them, Charlemagne's Paladins, was based on the early Holy Roman Empire, so naturally I was going to crib from that for Vardessy. The villages of Eigenmacht and Fabelhaft come from one of the modules included - and yes, their names are different German expressions amounting to "not real." Nice try, TSR, but future generations have Google Translate on their side.
• And finally, yes, I did put the Tomb of Horrors in Quel'Ahma. Just in case.

Other Games

• It's no secret that Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay has been a big influence on my setting, and the game put out some very nice city guides and adventures, so of course I would integrate some of those in my setting. Both the town of Bogenhaufen from Shadow Over Bogenhaufen and the city of Middenheim (renamed Torvaldshaupt to fit with its new status as the center of the cult of the god Torvald) from City of Chaos are included in Vardessy. Similarly, the city of Rolanfels is an adaptation of the very good fan-made guide to Bergsburg you can find here.
• The castle of Corteaguila in Taldameer is based on an old module on Weathertop from Middle-Earth Roleplaying, and is the result of me throwing a landmark on the road for my players on the spot when I didn't have anything prepared. MERP has a number of very handy fortress modules with detailed and realistic maps, so they're helpful for this purpose.
• The city of Sirka in Kvesland is an adaptation of Dave Morris's city of Brymstone for Dragon Warriors. I owe more to Dave than I do to perhaps any other individual creator in the TRPG world, so in terms of if his creations would show up in my setting it was only a matter of "when."

Newer Stuff

• Among one of the campaigns I've run that's been most dear to my heart was a run of 5e's Curse of Strahd, moving the setting of Barovia to a backwater barony in Togarmah. No impenetrable mists here - I don't believe in trapping my players if they're truly not invested, and many stories can attest to how that's more likely to burn players out than make them want to escape, so I just made it part of the material plane. However, I would later discover that Curse of Strahd only details the northern half of the Barovia that was established in previous editions. In order to make use of those materials as well, the southern part - including Immol, Mount Sawtooth, and the village of Krofberg from the 3.5e setting guide - was made into a Vardessian-controlled subdivision of the Togarman March known as Neiderbaroven. On the border is where I set the excellent fan expansion to Curse of Strahd, The Beast of Graenseskov.
• As part of a later campaign taking advantage of the release of Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft (one that was actually run by one of my players from the aforementioned campaign), a few other Domains made it into my setting, including Dementlieu being in the City-States and the valley of Tepest, including the village of Viktal, being in Halvardy. It was a great time, and I'm happy to make it canon.
• There's a funny story behind Porto Libre, the capital of Valossa. Green Ronin's Freeport: City of Adventure book(s) is one that hews closely to the old-school ethos of publications being setting-neutral and able to be dropped into any world, and I saw fit to place the city into the Lunar Lands. The only problem...I grew up in Freeport, Maine, and I am incapable of seeing it as a city of adventure. My solution was to rename it and make everything feel slightly Spanish - and, when I already had a Spain stand-in in Taldameer, it eventually evolved into being the capital of an entire fantastic Mexico analogue.
• Similarly, another setting-neutral city - Bard's Gate by Frog God Games - was adapted into the city of Pylithopon in Golnir.
• And, yes, I have something from 4e on here. Horror of horrors! Don't worry, I dislike the system as much as anyone else, but remember what I said about numbers not mattering, only ideas? Reavers of Harkenwold is an interesting module, seeing the PCs gathering allies and waging a guerilla war on a barony taken over by bandits. It's one I hope to run (in 5e) some time, so Harkenwold is here on the map, in Vardessy - the Holy Roman-inspired empire seems like the perfect place for petty coups and robber barons.

The OSR

• I'm eagerly awaiting the release of Dolmenwood - the folkloric, low-fantasy setting is the kind of stuff I want to inject directly into my veins. Naturally, the Duchy of Brackenwold is in the setting as one of the many fiefs of Vardessy. And yes, I do intend to put both Winter's Daughter and Barrowmaze in there too.
• If there's one thing I love, it's modules that present a regional sandbox with a number of areas and sidequests to explore. Curse of Strahd is one - and Dungeon Crawl Classics' The Chained Coffin is another I've had the pleasure to run. The Shudder Mountains has been placed in Vardessy under the name of the Schaderbergen, with the Appalachian influences reskinned to a more ancient Germanic vibe (and a little bit of Pennsylvania Dutch). As for the town of Dondern, that's a special case - although I was inspired by the town of Thundercrack described in The Almanac of the Shudder Mountains included in the boxed set, the description of a town built on platforms over water brought Lake-Town from The Hobbit to mind, and I have the MERP module on it saved up in case I need to represent the town.
• The ruined dwarven hold of Amudid (Thunder Rock) is an adaptation of Sanjikar from the excellent OSR module Mines, Claws, and Princesses - another one I hope to run some time.
• The island of Al-Awali off the coast of Quel'Ahma is based on Kalmatta from The Treasure Vaults of Zadabad - I had to change the name because I kept thinking of olives.
• And you'd better believe that Yoon-Suin and Qelong exist over the sea to the east.

Altogether, it's a diverse bunch - but it's brought us many hours of fun, and I like to think I make it all work. What about you? What modules have you integrated into your game worlds? I'd be interested in seeing what others have made!