The World

The maps cover an area roughly 800 leagues from the arctic north to the tropical south, and 500 leagues from east to west. (1 league is very roughly equivalent to 5 kilometres, or 3 miles. Very roughly.)

Everywhere one wanders, one will find the remains of powerful, ancient civilizations, now gone. Some are the last evidence of the great Elvish kingdoms, now reduced to a few remnants scattered along the Elvish Shore; others were created by peoples even stranger than Elves. A good many towns and cities have been built directly on top of, and from the remains of much much older settlements.

Click here for a map of the Northlands
(PDF, approximately 4.4MB, 20" x 16"

The North

The Northern Lands are sparsely populated by nomadic horse-tribes, culturally similar to ancient Scythians or Mongols, and by scattered settlements of tribal Celtic peoples. There are also several sizeable settlements of more civilized people, notably the preceptories of the two great religious military orders, the Sword Brethren on the shores of the Coinnenmere, and the Little Sisters of Carnage nestled into the arms of the great northern mountains, and the great and ancient city of Clancapaill at the mouth of the River Donn.

The peninsula extending south-west into the large gulf, the Druid's Tongue, is thickly forested land sacred to the druids, the priesthood of the Celtic tribes. It is taboo to enter without their permission

The great mountain range running southwards, connecting the two maps, is called the Serpent's Spine. The coastline at its feet is the Elvish Shore, where most of the remaining High Elvish realms are located.

On the north-western edge of the Sliadhraon Nathrach, the mountain range next to the Coinnenmere in the top-right quadrant of the map, is the great settlement of Reic. This is the greatest market of the whole northern world, though how it has come to be so is hard to see; certainly it's not because of its location.

To the south-west of Reic, in the north-eastern tip of the Snake's Back is the city-state of the cliff-dwellers of Beillic, home to the best mercenaries to be found anywhere.

In the south of the Northern Lands, in a great bowl formed by an arm of the Serpent's Spine and the WorldWall (also called the Barrier Mountains) is the Anforaois, the Great Forest. Hundreds and hundreds of miles of unbroken, densely-tangled trees march down to a swampy centre of which no reliable reports are known, but of which many rumours are heard. To the east of the Anforaois is the xenophobic totalitarian city-state of Imreas, where nobody comes or goes without the permission of the First Citizen.

Click here for a map of the Southlands
(PDF, approximately 3.4MB, 20" x 16"

The South

The Southern Lands get more populous as one goes further south.

In the north are three great lakes, the Mickelmere: the Angelsmere, the Üsemere, and the Ædrismere. This area, extending southwards as far as the coastal township of Rowan, is populated by scattered clans of forest-dwelling pseudo-Germanics of varying levels of barbarism. This is the area that most closely resembles the culture of Arthurian Europe, with heavily-armoured knights questing in all directions, and mysterious towers full of damsels (who inevitably turn out to be foul fiends from Hell) around every corner. Also in this region, in the passes to the west of the Great Lakes, is the happy, peaceful and prosperous land of Fnordonia.

South of the Great Lakes (Mickelmere) country live savage tribes of headhunters, cannibals and puppy-kickers, not to mention wild elves and all manner of nasty forest folk. Culturally, this area most resembles the tribal societies of the Amazon Basin, or the highlands of New Guinea; in every valley you're likely to encounter a distinct culture and language. Anthropologically fascinating, right up to the point where they kill you and ritually scoop out and eat your brains.

To the tropical south-west is the great city of Hyarfalas, centre of commerce and scholarship, and the seat of a theocratic empire ruled by the God-Emperor. There are four main cities of the empire, the other three being Hardros, Mundros and Fridæl (there was a fifth - Ëarbar across the straits from Hyarfalas, but it is now waste - the Necropolis). The cultures here are loosely based on those of ancient Mesopotamia.

The whole eastern side of the Southern Lands is taken up by dry, scorching desert called the Cursed Land, a barren wasteland created by the great wars of the distant past. Nomadic people do live there, but life is hard indeed. There is only one permanent settlement of any size, the oasis of Er-Et-Keli. It is in the south-western reaches of the Cursed Land that you find Swefelmunt - the Mountain of Sulphur, and the Doors to Hell. Just in case you feel like going to Hell for any reason.

Overland Movement

The distance a character can travel easily in one day is dependent on three things:

1. Their own movement rate — inches of Combat Movement x SPD gives the Base Overland Movement Rate (BOMR) in Movement Units (MU). This is the nominal distance a character can travel in 10 hours in good weather — bad weather will modify the MU Distance downwards, depending on its severity.
2. The terrain being traversed — the ease or difficulty of the terrain will increase or decrease the distance covered, as below.
3. The weight being carried — Carrying 25% or more of the character's maximum will reduce their Movement, and thus their BOMR. Each point of END from encumbrance costs 1 LTE (Long Term END) per 2 MU travelled (see table).

Additionally, each two MU travelled beyond the character's BOMR costs the character +1 LTE.

If all that seems a bit complicated, don't worry. What it boils down to is this: if you travel far, you'll get tired. If you carry a lot, you'll get tired. If you travel far carrying a lot, you'll get really tired.

Example: Zosia has a Movement rate of 6" and SPD 4, which means she can move 6 x 4 = 24 MU per day (unencumbered) without suffering any particular fatigue. On good, flat roads, that means she can easily walk 48 km per day. In easy, open country she can make 36 km, along forest tracks 18 km, and in trackless mountains only 6 km. If she exceeds these distances, then she has to burn LTE to do so.

Her STR is 18, with a maximum lift of 303 kg, so as long as she carries no more than 72 kg she'll remain essentially unencumbered as far as her movement is concerned. If she carries 73 kg or more, her base move drops and she will start using LTE as she travels.