The Fey

Fairies and nature spirits abound in the world of dungeons and dragons, but for the most part they are either go unnoticed, or are ignored. To get some idea of why the society of the characters is so reticent to accept fey in the way that they might accept a halfling or even an orc, one must realize that though the fey are not stupid, they are also not sane--not by human standards anyway. A conversation with a fey involves references to events and features of the world that simply do not exist to humans, humanoids, demi-humans, etc.. The fey, some argue, are more aware of the battles conducted in nature than are humans and elves. A human sees a tree, a fey sees an ancient citadel that has stood for centuries as a bulwark against the evil forces of some army of whose existence only the fey seem to know. At the same time, the events of the large world of human affairs often have little or no reference to the fey. What use is it to talk about the next town over to a Dryad that has never been more than fifty feet from her tree. At the same time, a human is unlikely to realize the drama that takes place in that area, and much less likely to see it in terms of political, social, and moral struggle. To the fey, plants, animals, the weather, and the elements are characters just as much as a merchant or a dragon is to a human being...or so they claim.



Investigations into the fey's "stories" are likely to turn up little in the way of corroboration. Perhaps the toad over there is, in fact, working for the dire tyrant tree the next glade over, but for all intents and purposes to humans, it's a toad: it acts like a toad and it never does anything peculiar to suggest allegiance to anything greater than its normal animal instincts.



What makes matters worse is that the fey seem to feel the same way about human affairs. Situated in the middle of a city, they are uncompelled to see the setting as a site of human drama. They may see it the way other people would see a tree. It's a tree, maybe it's nice to look out, but how long can you look at the same tree before it gets boring. For the fey, the question might be: how long can you look at the fight between the high ranking paladin and the evil power mad sorcerer before it gets dull.



Within the realm of normal society then, humans and humankind are likely to see fairies as no better than talking dragonflies prone to a world of intense make believe who may become hostile for reasons unknown but who normally ignore the presence of humans entirely.



There are a few points of contact that make this just a bit more complicated. Druids and fey share a similar world view, and as such, Druids tend to understand the fey way of looking at things a bit more than others. Even in these extreme circumstances, however, the druid understands only an inkling of the fey world. They are able to glimpse into its motivations and phenomena occasionally, normally through spells, and such, but they are always anchored in their comprehension of the normal world and also by their inability to fully immerse in the fey's. A druid probably wouldn't think that the fey are insane, but he or she wouldn't really understand what they're talking about, and probably knows that no amount of explaining is going to help.



Through interaction with the fey and the world of nature, druids commenly know that the fey divide the kingdom of the world up between the courts of the seelie and unseelie fairies. Where the seelie are insane and somewhat playful, the unseelie are insane and mischievous, if not downright psychotic. In the fairies stories, it is always the seelie court that plays the hero and the unseelie court that plays the villain. However, if this denotes a true battle between good and evil or whether this is just the way the fey play their games is inconclusive.

elven lands

I'd like to know where in Aversill are the Elven lands/territories.
Also, I changed to full elf. So now Emily and I are both thief/wizard Elves. Emily, I'm interested in pursuing my thief streak more than the wizard, how 'bout you?
Anira

sharing skills/spells

Hi,
I didn't know if I should list my skills/spells so that Emily and I won't overlap too much -- or is that necessary?
Anira

Getting a character conception

First off, you should know that you don't need a character conception-- a character conception flourishes over time. Through adventure and off hand comments, what begins as a catch phrase will turn into a full fledged alternate personality within the game world. If you'll indulge me for a minute, think of the characters on "Friends." After many seasons on TV, they have become memorable characters complete with personalities, prejudices, attitudes, histories, and personal places within an incredibly complex group dynamic, but what did the writers know about these characters when the show began? Chandler's funny, Phoebe streetwise, and Monica can cook. As the show progressed, these characters gained life. The same is true for you and your character. This then is less about making a full fledged conception and more about getting a beginning.

All of these methods work, to one degree or another, on playing with stereotypes. This is not to pigeon hole you. By seeing a type as something that can be played with, you can use these easy steps to imagine an original character.

Method 1, Art: There's a lot out there to just plain look at. Pictures of fantasy characters are great because they give you a visual presentation of the the kind of character you want to play. Well, why not simply go the whole nine and base your of your character on a picture you've seen. This will give you not only some idea of what you look like, but also what kind of circumstances you hope to find yourself in.

Method 2, Cool thing in the Game: A lot of conception start this way. A players says, "I want to be a total expert at potions," or "I want to play someone who trains war dogs." In other words, the character is an expert at some uncommon skill or has some interesting characteristic and they are conceptualized around this. This is a great way to begin feeling your character out because it generally involves a history of interest and also a guiding principal for the numbers on your character sheet.

Method 3, based on another character: Ever wonder what Angela Lansbury's character in "Murder She Wrote" would be like if she were an elf in a fantasy setting. Well, base your character on her. Take what you like, leave the rest. This is an especially useful tactic in picking the character's personality. You needn't by the way pick Bruce Willis's character from Die Hard. There's all kinds of quirky characters walking around the Dungeons and Dragons world. With this kind of conception, you get a pretty good idea of how your character generally acts.

Method 4, fandom: Some people like to totally recreate another character in a fantasy setting. You needn't pick a fantasy character for this necessarily. Instead, just try to think of fantasy analogs to whatever elements already exist in that characters world. You like the idea of Buck Rogers? Okay, instead of being a guy from the past thrown into the future to fight Ming the merciless, how about you're from another dimension and you're trying to stop an evil tyrannical wizard.

Method 5, get a gimmick: The Thing from The Fantastic Four began as a guy made of rock who said, "it's clobbering time." It really doesn't take much to make your character memorable and to begin the process of gaining definition. Consider the power of phrases like, "I'm not allowed in a lot of towns anymore," or, "that dragon circling overhead may be looking for me," or even, "who's up for a drinking contest?" One you know the situations your character is likely to get in, or what kinds of things set your character apart from the rest, a conception will begin to reveal itself. You can't hunt a man with six fingers for long before someone asks why.

Method 6, Start answering questions: Still working it out? Try these...

Where are you from?
What makes you a good character for a fantasy novel?
Why is it that you willingly explore tombs of of monsters whose names are
unpronounceable?
Fight dragons or ride them?
Ever seen a demon?
Do you have a home?
What do people outside your adventuring buddies think of you?
If your in the capital city for a few days R and R, how do you spend the
fortune you've just liberated from the goblin king?
Is anybody likely to be hunting you?
Is there something out there that might come to your defense in case of
really bad trouble?
Any "strange" relatives?
Are you on a quest?"
Which of the characters do you fell closest to? Who furthest?
Ancient and forgotten temple of Elder god: "wonder what's in there"
or "wonder how we're going to kill it?"
Likely travelling companion: Elvin archer, Iron Golem, or Githyankian
Alienist from the infinite dooms of Limbo?
Excalibur, Tolkien, Conan, The Never Ending Story, Labyrinth, or M.C. Escher (or H.R. Geiger for that matter)?

How to post

First of all, you can either post anonymously and just sign it or you can sign with your Google account if you have one. To get one go to https://www.google.com/accounts/NewAccount. It's free, and then you can have a cool name like Monstro!

Alright, after you do that, simply press on the "comment" link under the post and it will take you to a screen that asks for your user name and password. There should be a box where you can enter your comment and a string of characters for you to re-enter (this is so that automated programs can't comment on the blog).

That's it. After you do this, your comment should appear. This allows for a kind of discussion between readers of the blog.

Q and A-9/15/07

This is the Q and A for this week and next week.

Fumble-aya

So, I've given this some thought. I think Slash was right that a fumble that ends up with you on the ground is pretty bad. So, here's what I've come up with. If you roll a fumble in melee combat, you have to make a balance roll to stay up on your feet. If you end up not on your feet, you can make a tumble roll to get up without provoking an attack of opportunity. This gives you two dexterity checks to avoid getting clobbered when you fumble.

If you fumble while using a ranged attack, you have to make a hit roll against a friendly unit in your arc of fire. If firing into hand to hand, the friendly combatent is automatically the target. In other words, if you fumble while using a ranged weapon and one of your friends is in front of you, there's a chance that you'll hit them.

Fumbes on skill checks are just automatic failures and carry no other ill effect.

Macabre Boccob

Here's what you guys would all basically know about Boccob and his church, The Eternal Library.

Among the Pantheon, Boccob serves as the god of magic, but his nature seems to place him outside the realm of the other deities. Where Moradin or St. Cuthbert are active in the lives and affairs of mortals, Boccob's main selling point is that he simply doesn't care. He seems to be above the struggles of the world, and thus magic is a force that is a cast off of his own power. This has a number of effects in the legends of Stumgort and Aversill. As the argument goes, if Boccob was more responsible with magic then human power wouldn't continually have to be reigned in by the gods. If this is, in fact, the case, it wouldn't matter much. Boccob seems to care very little about who gets power or who doesn't. He is worshipped less as an attempt to gain favor and more as an exercise in the discipline that his followers see as necessary to use the powers that they uncover. As the myths go, if Boccob does actually notice you, his power is so great as to wipe you out of existence.

From a political standpoint, there are a number of organizations that deal with arcane secrets and lore, as well as numerous groups dedicated to the policing of magic use. The Eternal Library (church of Boccob) is generally at the forefront of the politics of magic in any civilized human area (Elves prefer Corellen Larethion). Wizard advisers to political authority are almost always appointed by The Eternal Library, and organizations for monitoring or policing magic use either begin as offshoots of the Eternal Library or are given authority by that group.

For this reason, figuring prominently in each major city is an Eternal Library. It's appearance depends on the city (Seacourt's is garish and polished; in Streckhorn it is a dark place uninviting and Gothic), but its general upkeep is pretty much the same. Most of the Library is off limits to non-church members (and even these areas are divided by one's status in the church), but it provides services such as the sale of magic items, instruction in magical skill and spells, numerous commercial casting services, professional services such as sages and scribes(though not Wayfairers), incarceration for magical beings, as well as the bureaucratic upkeep of magical licensing (it's as RMVish as it sounds).

Outside the city, the Eternal Library often operates temples for the collection of arcane secrets from the wilds and from prelapsarian ruins. In like manner, most of the Libraries less metropolitan plans are carried out in rural temples, such as magical laboratories, observatories, and academies.

Other major organizations that perform similar services to the Eternal Library are The Wayfairers Guild, The Pragnastic Assembly, The Hall of Secrets, and The Order. There are any number of smaller guilds, colleges, and schools for wizards, but none have the kind of political power wielded by the organizations listed above.

Slash's character, combat, etc.

Hi all-

This post is about combat in general but it's really in answer to Slash's question on the Q and A post from last week.

To sum up,

1. Slash has determined that fighting with a weapon in each hand is not good.
2. Big weapons do a lot more damage, but even a long sword would be better.
3. The best way to go with this would be a half orc 1st level barbarian, 4th level fighter.
4. He's worried that the character would be too much like Lynn's.
5. He's hoping to hear all of your thoughts on the subject of what the party needs.

So...ahem, on point 4...YES. Two spell casters in the group is fine in that they have different spells and thus present a bit of variation of play. Not to mention that one of the wizards is doing double duty as a thief, but two 1/2 orc fighters armed almost exactly the same and with nearly the same feats is going to be redundant

But first let me say a few thing. First of all, combat in Dungeons and Dragons, even before dice are thrown, is an incredibly complex organism full of multiple variables. It is seemingly the most difficult part of dungeons and dragons to get a hold of and also elicits the greatest celebration when someone "gets it" (actual roleplaying is, I think harder, but also more rewarding). The problem is that their are different levels of getting it; combat in D and D is incredibly tactically complex. Take whatever you can imagine about simple swordplay (fencing is an Olympic sport after all), add to that all other martial weapons, and then just because it is isn't complex enough just yet, add in other variables, like magical attacks, magical augmentation, magical healing, and all other varieties of magical nastiness to boot. Oh yeah, and then stage the combat in strange locales like cramped dungeons, cliffsides, on the back of a Pegasus.

To reduce combat, then, to a "hit roll" and an "amount of damage," again even before dice are thrown, is extremely oversimplified. Problems are likely to come up, some already have. In thinking in terms of going toe to toe with the monster, you immediately put a strain on the cleric who has to use up the greater portion of their powers for healing. Giving up Monster Summoning for healing is a sign that something has gone wrong. Not horribly wrong, but wrong nonetheless. With this mentality in place, the wizard's list of spells becomes bottle necked. Why get anything that doesn't do direct damage? And continuing on in that thought process, why not just be a fighter? Who needs magic missile when you have a two handed sword?

But in this way of thinking, consider immediately your adversary. A group of fifth level characters can expect to meet 3 ogres. Last night, one such ogre nearly killed the barbarian. Bad rolls? Not particularly. If that ogre zombie had managed to survive one more round of fighting the entire party, you would have needed a raise dead spell. Imagine what would have happened if the two fighters, in attempting to chop down the ogre, had left two more ogres to go toe to toe with the two wizards and the cleric. Ogres hit for about 16 pts. of damage around...average.

And that was me playing the zombie ogre stupid (which it is). Imagine such a creature if it knows how to cleave, disarm, flank, or take advantage of attacks of opportunity.

Though every combat is, in essence, some variation of the "chop the monster down" tactic, relying solely on such a tactic is likely to become a bloodbath fairly quick--and for both sides. I think that's what happens when you make both "warrior characters" barbarians, or when you base all of your combat tactics on who can hit the hardest.

What do I recommend instead? Well, first of all, the wizards aught to notice that more than half of their spell list has combat applicability. By keeping a variety of spells, the wizard produces tactical situations for the party that might otherwise go overlooked (including avoiding combat altogether). At any given point from now on, the major battles will be won or lost by the wizards. If the wizards aim is to simply annoy while the fighters do their job, then you miss out on some of the truly heroic powers of magic. Personally, I like "web" with "fireball" at your level, but "monster summoning" plus "haste" is also nice." Play around a bit; I'm sure you'll find some nasty combination I haven't seen as of yet.

Second, though I think any "warrior character" aught to be able to hold their own in combat, I think that there are a number of ways to do this. You could be the hardest character to hit (using a variety of tactics to produce this affect such as super dodginess or big armor). You could have access to the greatest finesse; if you look at the combat section of the players handbook under Special Attacks, you'll see a variety of combat options of which a fighter, with their additional feats, is sort of designed to take advantage. You could master a kind of combat that forces your enemies to rethink their simple tactics by using an extremely long weapons, or by mastering ranged weapons. Lastly, you could work towards or take a prestige class to make your fighter more specialized and threatening. If the barbarian can rage, how about a character who can disarm or who can make enemies easier to hit when the barbarian rages. There's only so many bull's strength spells to go around.

And of course, I always recommend taking advantage of a good thief. A good thief can draw monsters into ambushes (yes, you can ambush the monsters too); a good thief can set traps to screw the monsters up; hell, thief...thieves steal things like weapons and magic items before the battle even begins.

Lastly, clerics are good because no matter what goes down, they can aid, and if their aid isn't needed, so much the better: monster summoning, arms and armor, cause light and moderate wounds. Plus, in the right circumstances, the cleric alone can stop the undead horde.

Here's what I'm saying in a nutshell. It's good to begin the game with an eye towards figuring out how to hit the monster and do damage, but you will eventually have to move into more complex ways of thinking about combat or the monsters who are better at this simple tactic will run you into the ground. I think a good way to prohibit yourself from this kind of thinking is to choose the simple route of big weapons that do big damage or obvious spells that always do damage (and which do nothing else).

And, of course, I'll say what I'm always going to say in this circumstance: what kind of character do you want to play? When the intrigue part of the game happens, where do you want to find yourself in it? What kind of character do you envision, because in the end, it isn't about combat at all but about having fun, and the more you like your character, the more fun you'll have.

Character Conception

Your characters right now are made, but they are never really set in stone. I think it's good to tinker with the character as you get a better feel for who they are, what they do, their background, and their attitudes. As you get some idea of what you want, I encourage tinkering. Don't worry about the continuity of the story. We'll just assume that the character was like that all along.

Game Term Glossary

• Character Conception- This is the idea behind the character: your guiding principal about what the character is like, their place in the world, etc.. Strider’s character conception (from Lord of the Rings) might be: reluctant king who is shirking his responsibility and off wandering the planet. Conan’s might be: big guy who’d rather get drunk and kill then have a conversation. A character conception need not be totally formed (or formed at all) at the beginning of the game. Through the magic of revision, when you get one that you like, we simply rewrite what has come before a bit so that it seems like you’ve had your character conception in mind all along.
• Crit: Short for Critical hit. A critical hit is scored, in general, by rolling a natural twenty on the twenty sided die to hit. Some weapons crit more often. When you roll a crit, all damage done by you on that blow is doubled. As a rule for this game, monsters cannot crit against players unless the monster has a class level (a fourth level Ogre barbarian can crit, for instance; a regular Ogre can not) or the encounter is at the same CR as the characters. “Crit”ing a skill or ability check means automatic success regardless of penalties or difficulties.
• Fumble: A fumble is the result of rolling a natural 1. Fumbling is failure no matter what modifiers. Also, a fumble in combat may result in your falling down. It requires a Balance skill roll to stay on your feet.
  
  

Map of Aversill Colony

Glossary of Place Names

This is a list and brief description of places in the game world.

• Ashforge- City underneath the Kriegroost mountains. Ashforge is the largest Dwarven city accessible to non-dwarves.
• Aversill- continent discovered by humans 600 years ago and colonized by the kingdom of Sturmgort. Much of Aversill is still wild with large tracts of inhospitable, hostile, and treacherous areas. There is evidence that before its discovery, Aversill once had a thriving human population. What, however, became of those people is lost to time.
• Asternil Gate- The gate in the center of Starfell where a meteor supposedly punched a hole through the world. It is a site of trade between the surface and the underworld.
• Azriahulathein- Legendary island home of the elves. Incredibly insular. Non-elves are not welcome. Azriahulathein is at the very least three weeks sail from Aversill.
• Bobbinford- Halfling city about three days ride back from the frontier and located down the Starfell River.
• Codphetumos- The statue of the Fade god of the same name at the center of Streckhorn.
• Daisgog- When Tyrgrim was first opened it was to flank the hobgoblin kingdom of Daisgog. Now, it is uncertain whether Tyrgrim isn’t the capital of this warlike goblinoid land.
• Denzibal Temple- The great temple to the various gods of the human pantheon that crowns the statue of Codphetumos in Streckhorn.
• Eastern Ocean- Ocean on the Western coast of Aversill (the ocean is East of Sturmgort and they’re the ones who named it).
• Ergog- When left to fight amongst themselves the Ork kingdom of Ergog is one of the most powerful zones of the March. Historically, they have gathered their power from crusades into the Vasts. A common political saying is: “you have vasts in your scryers glass” which basically means imminent trouble from unknown sources.
• Far Reef- The southern most human city on Aversill is actually located on an island off the coast of Grosh Gelios. Whereas, many of Aversill’s most notable cities are frontier town, few display the lawlessness of Far Reef. Were it not for the money the city brings back from its forays into the Grosh Gelios, its politics would not be tolerated by the Colonial Council in Seacourt.
• Frontier, The- The frontier is the limit of habitable land occupied by human forces on Aversill. From the reaches of the Frontier to the Eastern Ocean is about a 10 day ride (assuming one uses a road and is moving at a fairly good pace on horseback). Human habitation of Aversill covers half of its western and southern coasts. Most frontier towns are considered somewhat backwards and lawless. In some cases, the reputation is well deserved.
• Glanverry- A mountain city famous for its technological marvels, most of which are the work of the nearby gnomes of Krimfolet.
• Kilbrae- Small coastal outpost at the Southwest corner of the continent where the Mauler river meets the East ocean.
• Krickenheim- Name of a mountain chain beginning due south of Starfell. Also the name of the elusive Dwarven kingdom (or possibly kingdoms) for which the Krickenheim mountains are named.
• Kriegroost Mountains- Volcanic mountain chain in Northern Aversill. Legend proports that the Kriegroost Mountains were the cradle of the tyrannical god Hextor.
• Krimfolet- The great Gnome university of Krimfolet sits just west of the Krickenheim mountains and just north of the human city of Glanverry
• Lands of the March- Less a political entity and more an expansive uncivilized region from which warlords sometimes arise. The March is the home of various humanoid races that ceaselessly fight one another until something bands them together against the invading human forces of Sturmgort. There have been four major Marches which have kept human power in Aversill well in check.
• Lavenshoal- Elven encampment of long standing (Elves don’t really refer to something less than a millennia old as a city). The elves of Lavenshoal are the children and grandchildren of the elves that came over with the humans from Sturmgort.
• March- Generally used to describe any area that is uncivilized.
• Mauler river- One of three rivers fed by the Starfell river, It meats the East Ocean at the city of Kilbrae.
• Mottentodd- The unguessably large metropolis capital of the Nimberfein kingdom. Here, and under normal circumstances, only here do the Nimberfein dwarves deal with humans, elves, and halflings. Part of the city is above ground. The upper city, as it is called, is partly controlled by Sturmgort forces in an advisory capacity.
• Nimberfein- A kingdom underneath the Stormcrown mountains and the center of worship for Moradin. Nimberfein is less xenophobic than the kingdom of Krickenheim, but still fairly intolerant except at its capital city Motentodd.
• Noeethia- The city of Noeethia is the most northern city of any reasonable size in the Aversill colony. It is located on the northern peninsula of the Bay of Swords at the edge of the Colthorn Forest. It’s wintry atmosphere, make it a place of hard living, whereas its position in the forest make its inhabitants a bit xenophobic about those who come to the city overland.
• Phemerhon- Occasionally scholars will differentiate between the colony and the continent. In such cases, the continent is known as Phemerhon and Aversill is the colony that is founded upon it.
• Seacourt- The city of Seacourt is on the landing spot of the original party from Sturmgort. It is the most influential city on the continent. Powerful in both intelligence and affluence, it seeks to present a cosmopolitan air to the colony of Aversill.
• Starfell- Main city of the campaign. Starfell is the largest and most affluent of the cities on the frontier of “civilized” (human) Aversill. Starfell is located at the bottom of a crater caused by a meteor strike.
• Starfell River- River starting from the pumping stations of Starfell and feeding out into the Eastern Ocean.
• Stormcrown Mountains- Legendary home of the god Heironious. The Stormcrown mountains are the home of another dwarven kingdom of Nimberfein.
• Streckhorn- City on the Frontier located within the peaks of the Krickinheim mountain chain.
• Sturmgort- Human empire responsible for the discovery and colonization of Aversill. All Aversill human land owners are considered citizens of Sturmgort. Sturmgort is, at best, four weeks sail from Aversill.
• Tevermine Gate- Entrance to Streckhorn through the lifts is through the Tevermine Gate.
• The Bay of Swords- North up the coast from Seacourt bay, the Bay of Swords is divided in half on its coast by the Coldthorn forest. It is from the Bay of Swords that Aversill claims its hardiest sailors.
• The Coldthorn Forest- At the northern edge of the kingdom and serving as a border between the Sturmgort colonies and Ulf Kontali is the Coldthorn Forest. The area is a subarctic forest stretching far to the north. Those who have made it past the forest speak of a frozen plain that is without life and seas awash with ice bergs.
• The Gauvis River- The river between the Kriegroost and Stormcrown mountain ranges. The Gauvis River feeds into and joins up with the Starfell river.
• The Glass Wastes- To the west of Sturmgort is a continent which has been known throughout the lores of both Sturmgort and Pyrhince as The lands of Geistschon. To most people, however, it is better known as the Glass Wastes. The continent is a formed out of a miles thick sheet of glass, beneath which can sometimes be made out shapes. Recently, some of the more affluent (and less superstitious) kingdoms have sent in expeditions to determine if there is anything of value on (or in) the Glass Wastes. Most people, however, stay clear; legend has it that this is the site of the First Catastrophe.
• The Grosh Gelios- Dwarvish name for the southern jungle expanse located past the area known as the March. The Grosh Gelios has otherwise proven impervious to any serious exploration attempts and the coast of the Grosh Gelios is a threat to even the most veteran of sailors.
• The Isigong Battlefield- Supposedly the site of the Second Catastophe (the battle between Corellan Larethian and Lolth), the Isigong Battlefield lies in the center of Azriahulathein and is separated from the rest of the world by the Hannoof Als Hoon (aka Seerwall).
• Thulenglenn- Capital city of Aziahulathein. Thulenglenn is considered the mythical birthplace of the elf race, and is considered holy by elves, both above and below.
  Tyrgrim- Kingdom to the East of the Kriegroost Mountains. Originally founded by members of Sturmgort during the first March to gain tactical advantage, it has since fallen away from its parent empire and operates as an independent city state within the wilds of the land of the March.
• Ulf Kontali- Ulf Kontali is the elvish outpost on Aversill northeast of the lands claimed by Sturmgort. It owes its allegiance to the island kingdom of Azriahulathein and has been established on Aversill for far longer than Sturmgort. Despite its reputation as forbidden land, it is fairly underpopulated. Because of the great number of ancient ruined cities within Ulf Kontali, most people think the area is cursed by the gods and many wonder at the elves presence there.
• Vasts, The- Beyond the limits of the March to the far east lie the Vasts. It is here that human exploration has ended, though those who have made it that far tell stories of giant ruins, floating cities, and incredible (and unspeakable horrors). Those who venture into the Grosh Gelios do not return, but those who venture into the Vasts do not remain.
• Vazermell- At one time, the farthest Eastern province on the frontier. As the site of a great many battles in the battles against the March and Tyrgrim, Vazermell has been since plundered and razed. It is now nothing more than ruins acting as a reminder of the forces that also are loose on the continent.
• Vebeltodd- The great gnomish city of Vebeltodd is in the foothills of the Stromcrown mountains. It is friendly to outsiders and considers itself an ally to the Sturmgort empire, all three dwarven kingdoms, and the Elvish lands of Ulf Kontali.

Glossary of Terms for parts of the game world

This is for general terms in the world of Aversill.

Q and A

Post here if you have any questions about the game or game world that you'd like answered.

Why The Wiki?

Quick answer: Because a few of you have never played Dungeons and Dragons.

Quick answer, part 2: Because there is no book to read that will describe the world in which your characters live.

Quick answer, part 3: Because I'm making this up as I'm going along and so I'd kind of like to have some record of it. Call it a history of the world, or a guidebook to how things work in the game, I see an Aversill Wiki as an integral journal to what has made it so far into the game world.

What I think this Wiki will essentially cover are the geographical, political, racial, physical, and all other details of the game world. I want to have brief descriptions of what your characters would probably know by virtue of simply having lived lives in Aversill--information which you yourself most likely will not know.

Lastly, I want to make this a kind of record of what you all have accomplished. This is a world that is being built around five players as we play. The world is interesting, sure, but I think we would be remiss if we didn't offer the position of prominence to the character quests and actions that spring that world into existence.