Cravana (Gygax 75): Week Two - Surrounding Area
I'm a little late for this update on my Gygax 75 Challenge worldbuilding project, as this last week has been a bit busy and real-life took charge for a while. However, I've been using bits and pieces of free time to work on the next stage of taking the world of Cravana from a simple idea to something concrete and playable.
Again, Ray Otus provides us with the week's task to complete based on Gary Gygax's 1975 article: this time it's to produce a hex map of the starting area for your campaign. Ray suggests it should be a relatively small area, with scales of more than 1:6 ruled out. Gygax himself suggested a scale of 1 mile per hex, allowing you to really zoom in, so that's what I chose to start it.
Ray also suggests you make sure that your map contains several important features:
- At least one settlement of significant size
- At least two smaller settlements
- One major terrain feature covering at least three hexes
- A mysterious site to discovers
- A (main) dungeon entrance.
If you've been reading some of my other posts about this project, you may have already seen the initial map that I started putting together for this project. It was based on the old map from the 1600s. A little outside of the Dark Ages I am going for, but bending things is all part of the process, right? The map below shows the drawing I had started to produce.
This hand-drawn version will eventually be digitised to become a player-facing map for the players to use and explore. But for the GM, and for this week's task, I need a hex map, so I used the fancier ink drawing I had already made, a light box and some hex paper to produce the map below, which I've subsequently trimmed and glued into my ongoing notebook.
The map provides an overview of the region and the major settlements, which are based on real places within Craven District in the Yorkshire Dales, though their names have been modified using their OId English or Norse origins, which I have based off of their etymology.
Now there is a lot going on in this map and I have to admit that I did get a little bit carried away trying to provide information about all of the settlements within this 18 x 21 mile area, providing each with something interesting that is going on either within or nearby. However, I realised about halfway through this process that I was falling into the usual worldbuilding trap of building up a big picture before I'd really gotten the groundwork set in place! So, I finished up those notes (I might as well have those ideas for later on!) and decided to focus on my starting area.
Gygax suggests that the starting settlement should be in the centre of the map. The largest settlement on mine, Scaeftun, is down in the south-east. So, I decided to make Malgun (based on the village of Malham), which is more central, into the starting area for my campaign and zoomed in on it. To do so, I used some of the excellent worksheets from New Big Dragon Games' d30 Sandbox Companion and Hex Map Pack to help me flesh it out. Below, I've detailed some of the places within this region, as well as some of the hooks I've come up with (many of which require fleshing out—though that is a task for later on).
The Malgundale area (Hex B3)
Located north of the Barrowlands and nestled in the shadow of Pagan's Seat, the village of Malgun is formed primarily of farming families that have come together for protection, although prospectors looking to mine the foothills below the mountain and those seeking lost treasures within Duergar ruins often visit for supplies or a place to rest on their travels.
The people of Malgun hold to the Old Ways and have thus far resisted the encroachment of the Holy Order of the Light Effulgent. They have a somewhat healthy relationship with the Fae, with the fairy queen Janeth holding residence within the falls below Malgun's Tarn, which are often referred to as Janeth's Foss. The spiritual needs of the villagers are tended to by a group of three druids, who reside in The Stonewood to the west. However, this small stretch of woodland has recently been cursed and a shadow lingers beneath its boughs. As a result, creatures of the Winter Court have become bolder in the region, and many blame them for the hex...
Notable locations
Dungeons and ruins:
- Crackpot Mine (A): located to the east of Pagan's seat, this is a relatively new mine for minerals, especially lead and iron ores. The miners have recently been driven out after breaching an ancient Duergar ruin. Only a handful of them have returned to the village and one of them has been driven quite mad by their experiences. The miners brought back a Duergar relic, which has since been passed to the druids. Some suggest that this may be the cause of the curse on The Stonewood, though they are more often than not shouted down by others who blame the Fae of the Winter Court.
- Valour's End (F): Seemingly a natural cavern entrance to the north-east of Setlan, the mouth of this dark opening into the earth is strewn with bones. Strange engravings on the walls suggest battles fought against fell beasts. Many locals claim it to be a tomb for great warriors. Others suggest the bones point to sacrifices. However, it has not been explored in earnest, as scattered 'elfshot' amongst the remains suggests the Fae once made use of this place and most do not wish to offend them by intruding. Most ward themselves when passing it by or even speaking of it. The entrance to this cavern leads to a long-abandoned Fae ruin, once used for games and fighting contexts. However, their prized beast, a basilisk, still lurks within.
Monster lairs:
- Nihthroc nests (B): Malgun's Cove, a huge limestone amphitheater, lies just below Malgun's Tarn. Both are tied to the legend of the ancient giant, Malgun Bearclaw, who was once a Jotunnar chieftain. His throne was supposedly Pagan's Seat, while the tarn above he carved out with his hands when he stooped to drink the crystal waters of the spring in the mountains. The cove itself is said to be where he held court. Nowadays these cliffs are home to flocks of Nihthroc, black birds said to be the eyes and ears of the Old Gods. Sometimes considered to be ill omens, they can bring tidings of woe, which they call out in croaking voices. The villagers of Malgun tolerate their presence so as not to offend the Old Gods. That and their eggs make for a local delicacy. The villagers are always looking for those willing to brave the cliffs to hunt through the Nihthroc nests, though those who do are recommended to leave offerings for the birds as payment. Another avian creature has recently moved into the cove, threatening the Nihthroc (and possibly the village itself). Someone needs to drive it off or kill it...
- Boggart Hole (E): One of the farmers around Malgun has long had a friendly relationship with a hob—a kind of tutelary spirit, known to carry out tasks and generally be helpful to those who treat them well. However, another jealous hob, twisted by their envy of the farmer's kindness, has devolved into a Boggart, a mischievous and malign version of their kin. This creature has captured the hob and taken up its place on the farm. They are loathed to perform any helpful tasks though, instead making demands of the petrified farmer and his wife. The original hob is being held hostage in a nearby earth mound. To add a further twist to this tale, the boggart is the hob's brother and want's to try and turn its sibling from its malicious ways—no doubt a complex and arduous task. If either the hob or the boggart is killed, then the remaining one, consumed by its grief and anger, eventually turns into a red cap. They will seek to murder the farmer for hiring those who killed their sibling—in this case, should the PCs ever return to the farm, they will find the farmer and his family slain.
Other locales:
- Pagan's Seat ( C): One of three mighty peaks that dot Cravana's landscape, Pagan's Seat is famed for the graven rock at its summit, claimed to have once been the throne of the giant Malgun, after whom the little village in the mountain's shadow is named. Today the monolith has been surrounded by a complex circle of standing stones and has become a sacred place for the druids of The Stonewood. Some claim that these standing stones are former members of Malgun's council, petrified by some ancient curse. Sometimes lights and strange shadows are seen on the peak. Those who fear the druids, or have turned their backs on the Old Ways, are sometimes heard to tell that the druids go up the mountain to commune with the spirits of the Jotuunar and nothing good can come from it. Long ago, the druids forged a pact with the giant-kin residing here, promising to help shield them from the encroaching humans so long as they turned their backs on supporting the trollkin and ogryn in the final battles with humanity before they were pushed into the lands to the west. The giants, who had seen the coming events in prophecy agreed, retreating to their city within the mountain and trusting the druids to aid them and help them continue to prosper. With the druids currently afflicted by the curse on The Stonewood, their protection wanes and it won't be long before the giants are discovered, which may lead to retribution from trollkin who still reside nearby.
- The Stonewood (D): Home of the secretive druids who are the spiritual advisors to the people of Malgun. Currently, the woods are cursed—the trees grow thick and look sickly, the grown squirms underfoot, and strange creatures have been witnesses beneath its boughs. The source of the curse is currently unknown for certain, but rumours place the cause at the feet of: i) the Winter Court, given their presence in the area has increased recently; ii) the Duergar artefact brought back from Crackpot Mine, which was entrusted to the druids just before the curse struck; iii) the Holy Order of the Light Effulgent, with some suggesting the woods have been poisoned by Inquisitors from the nearby Abbey of the Last Light.
- Janeth's Foss (G): This waterfall beneath Malgun's Tarn hides a portal to the Fae Realms, where the border between the real and the mystical is thin. A fairy queen, known as Janeth, resides here. She does not bother the villagers, so long as they do not interfere with her affairs, and it is rumoured she has some form of agreement with the druids from The Stonewood, though none know what this might entail. Janeth is concerned about the increased activity of Winter Court Fae in the region and she has become withdrawn recently, as she fears being held captive by that establishment once more.
That's all for this post, though Ray Otus did set a task for 'extra credit' for Week 2 of the challenge, which was to develop a random encounter table—I will be going over that in a separate post, which I'll get up soon. Next week, the task is to start developing the local dungeon, so I hope you'll come back as we delve into Crackpot Mine...