Welcome to the Graylands!
In the noble tradition of Game Masters blogging about their ongoing campaigns, I would like to introduce you to the Greylands. It ought to be understood that this is in no way a completely original world. I have shamelessly taken things from other GMs and this world developed around the design of Dungeon Crawl Classics, the modules I had bought off Drive Thru RPG, the insanity of my players, and my own madness. My big inspirations have been the Hill Cantons, the Dresden Files, Dr. Strange and Mr. Norrel, Lovecraft, and the usual sources of Conan and Tolkien.
On the far eastern continent of a pre-historic Earth, there are three dominant cultures. There is the pseudo-Christian Lawful culture which oversees the civilized lands on the eastern half of the continent, the paganistic Chaotic culture which oversees the western half, and the cultures of Neutrality which is by far the least populated, hiding away in cities and secluded places, mainly right in the middle of the continent. This middle area, between the light of civilization and the darkness of anarchy, is called the Greylands. This is where our adventure takes place. It is a diverse ecosystem with many different biomes from plains to forests to jungles. It has a diverse population. All the major races can be found here: elves, dwarves, humans, and a surprising amount of halflings.
A few notable locations have become central locales for the ongoing campaign:
The Village of Redrum: This quaint, quiet village amongst the fog covered hills of the Chaotic side of the Greylands is just a perfect place to vacation for the Lawful family looking for some release from city life, that is if you don't mind the incredibly psychotic villagers, the human sacrifice at the temple of the Hidden Lord, and terrible beer. It really is just terrible.
Some interesting facets of this town include the local chapter of the Halfling Mafia, the nearby Cave of Secrets where any question can be answered, and a giant hole in the ground where an old monastery use to be before it got up and walked away.
The inhabitants will constantly tell obvious lies, daring you to call them out on it. The inhabitants will also quite frequently become fed up with their day to day lives of farming and blood sacrifice to go adventuring, facing horrible death or gaining an incredible reward. Those that survive an adventure foreseeably do not stick around in town for long and move to Phaidecia.
The Lawful City of Phaidecia: Only about a day's journey from Redrum, lies Phaidecia. The people walk around in Victorian attire beneath the gaze of faceless stone gargoyles with the single arrow symbol of Law in place of facial features. The city is divided into four districts: Dust, Copper, Silver, and Gold. For a person who is a resident of the Dust district or an outsider, it costs a copper piece to get into the Copper district, a silver for the Silver District, and so on.
The religion of Phaidecia is the Grand Ticking Church of Timekeeping Decachrontatus who turns the Grinding Gears of Reality. The symbol of this deity is a clockface with Roman numerals and ten hands. The Ten Wands preside over their religion from the Clocktower Cathedral, each ancient member holding one of the titular Ten Wands which Decachronatus crafted from the white bones of the Storm Leviathan, mother of the Chaos Titan and a lesser known unnamed deformed god. The Wands are the official rulers of the city. The Court of Coins makes laws, deals with funds, and even runs the town guard, but the Wands can veto any law the Courts make and lead the city in the event of a war. The Wands are all very sleepy and hopelessly lost in their theological rigidity. They will often veto a motion out of sheer grumpiness or the remote possibility of doctrinal dispute.
Notable locations include:
Ten of Wands Inn: This is a tavern in the Dust district which served the majority of the adventuring community before the Forbidden Isle Guild started up and started taking all their business to their tavern on the island.
Clocktower Cathedral: An incredible feat of architecture, this massive church has constantly moving parts that acolytes must learn to navigate with their eyes closed or else face being crushed between massive gears. Liturgy is spoken at each of the ten marks of the day, the priests becoming like parts of the massive clock.
The (Not so) Forbidden Isle: This formerly giant spider infested island on the Saint's Blood Lake was declared forbidden by priests after they made contact with the horrible monstrosities that dwelled there. It was said that a wizard made a deal with a Fae, predictably ending up in something horrible happening. Some adventurers found their way there at the behest of Jacob Aphenaeus and miraculously drove out the arachnid threat, taking the island as their new base of operations.
Notable people include:
Thenifus Amaxis: This crazy town prophet madly declares the message of the "Fingercounter." No one really knows who this odd hobo is talking about. He was formerly a merchant working in the Silver district and a friend of Mr. Apohenaeus before he went on a journey outside the city. Upon his return, he was quite mad, yelling his new gospel to anyone who would listen. He left with the party of adventurers to the Forbidden Isle and it was rumored that he died there, but there is some question of that because travelers coming through the main gate still claim to have been accosted by someone yelling, "Fear and love him! Fear and love the Fingercounter!"
Mr. Aphenaeus: Jacob Aphenaeus is a local sorcerer and businessman. He is the patron of the Forbidden Isle Guild. Rumors surrounding his odd political views and business dealings abound. Some say he is an anarchist. Some say he is a heretic. Everyone knows and fears Mr. Aphenaeus and he seems to like it that way.
Stacy Thantrilus: Mr. Aphenaeus' former house servant turned Guild Manager. She is rumored to have been trained by traveling blade monks or that she is possessed by a terribly strong demon. Most people notice, in the least, that Mr. Aphenaeus keeps no bodyguards but can sometimes be seen with her is public and no one questions who the bodyguard really is.
I will be posting more information about the setting and characters of this campaign as we go. If you are an ACU student interested in playing some Dungeons and Dragons comment on this post and we will see if we can get you involved. The Guild is open to all adventurers.
I will also be posting News from the Greylands in the style of the Hill Cantons. If you are already a player in my game, take notice. These News sections will be possible quests you can embark upon.
On the far eastern continent of a pre-historic Earth, there are three dominant cultures. There is the pseudo-Christian Lawful culture which oversees the civilized lands on the eastern half of the continent, the paganistic Chaotic culture which oversees the western half, and the cultures of Neutrality which is by far the least populated, hiding away in cities and secluded places, mainly right in the middle of the continent. This middle area, between the light of civilization and the darkness of anarchy, is called the Greylands. This is where our adventure takes place. It is a diverse ecosystem with many different biomes from plains to forests to jungles. It has a diverse population. All the major races can be found here: elves, dwarves, humans, and a surprising amount of halflings.
A few notable locations have become central locales for the ongoing campaign:
The Village of Redrum: This quaint, quiet village amongst the fog covered hills of the Chaotic side of the Greylands is just a perfect place to vacation for the Lawful family looking for some release from city life, that is if you don't mind the incredibly psychotic villagers, the human sacrifice at the temple of the Hidden Lord, and terrible beer. It really is just terrible.
Some interesting facets of this town include the local chapter of the Halfling Mafia, the nearby Cave of Secrets where any question can be answered, and a giant hole in the ground where an old monastery use to be before it got up and walked away.
The inhabitants will constantly tell obvious lies, daring you to call them out on it. The inhabitants will also quite frequently become fed up with their day to day lives of farming and blood sacrifice to go adventuring, facing horrible death or gaining an incredible reward. Those that survive an adventure foreseeably do not stick around in town for long and move to Phaidecia.
The Lawful City of Phaidecia: Only about a day's journey from Redrum, lies Phaidecia. The people walk around in Victorian attire beneath the gaze of faceless stone gargoyles with the single arrow symbol of Law in place of facial features. The city is divided into four districts: Dust, Copper, Silver, and Gold. For a person who is a resident of the Dust district or an outsider, it costs a copper piece to get into the Copper district, a silver for the Silver District, and so on.
The religion of Phaidecia is the Grand Ticking Church of Timekeeping Decachrontatus who turns the Grinding Gears of Reality. The symbol of this deity is a clockface with Roman numerals and ten hands. The Ten Wands preside over their religion from the Clocktower Cathedral, each ancient member holding one of the titular Ten Wands which Decachronatus crafted from the white bones of the Storm Leviathan, mother of the Chaos Titan and a lesser known unnamed deformed god. The Wands are the official rulers of the city. The Court of Coins makes laws, deals with funds, and even runs the town guard, but the Wands can veto any law the Courts make and lead the city in the event of a war. The Wands are all very sleepy and hopelessly lost in their theological rigidity. They will often veto a motion out of sheer grumpiness or the remote possibility of doctrinal dispute.
Notable locations include:
Ten of Wands Inn: This is a tavern in the Dust district which served the majority of the adventuring community before the Forbidden Isle Guild started up and started taking all their business to their tavern on the island.
Clocktower Cathedral: An incredible feat of architecture, this massive church has constantly moving parts that acolytes must learn to navigate with their eyes closed or else face being crushed between massive gears. Liturgy is spoken at each of the ten marks of the day, the priests becoming like parts of the massive clock.
The (Not so) Forbidden Isle: This formerly giant spider infested island on the Saint's Blood Lake was declared forbidden by priests after they made contact with the horrible monstrosities that dwelled there. It was said that a wizard made a deal with a Fae, predictably ending up in something horrible happening. Some adventurers found their way there at the behest of Jacob Aphenaeus and miraculously drove out the arachnid threat, taking the island as their new base of operations.
Notable people include:
Thenifus Amaxis: This crazy town prophet madly declares the message of the "Fingercounter." No one really knows who this odd hobo is talking about. He was formerly a merchant working in the Silver district and a friend of Mr. Apohenaeus before he went on a journey outside the city. Upon his return, he was quite mad, yelling his new gospel to anyone who would listen. He left with the party of adventurers to the Forbidden Isle and it was rumored that he died there, but there is some question of that because travelers coming through the main gate still claim to have been accosted by someone yelling, "Fear and love him! Fear and love the Fingercounter!"
Mr. Aphenaeus: Jacob Aphenaeus is a local sorcerer and businessman. He is the patron of the Forbidden Isle Guild. Rumors surrounding his odd political views and business dealings abound. Some say he is an anarchist. Some say he is a heretic. Everyone knows and fears Mr. Aphenaeus and he seems to like it that way.
Stacy Thantrilus: Mr. Aphenaeus' former house servant turned Guild Manager. She is rumored to have been trained by traveling blade monks or that she is possessed by a terribly strong demon. Most people notice, in the least, that Mr. Aphenaeus keeps no bodyguards but can sometimes be seen with her is public and no one questions who the bodyguard really is.
I will be posting more information about the setting and characters of this campaign as we go. If you are an ACU student interested in playing some Dungeons and Dragons comment on this post and we will see if we can get you involved. The Guild is open to all adventurers.
I will also be posting News from the Greylands in the style of the Hill Cantons. If you are already a player in my game, take notice. These News sections will be possible quests you can embark upon.
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