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T O P I C    R E V I E W
Mapolq Posted - 15 Apr 2012 : 03:43:17
Greetings, everyone! I've been lurking on this site for years and have always enjoyed reading many scribes' contributions to these forums. I have only registered a few months ago and haven't been very active since then, but now I have decided to post some information about the campaign I'm running, which is set in Sespech in 1374 DR and onwards. I'm particularly interested in the geography, demographics, and politics of the Realms, so I have developed some details on those subjects for Sespech and the surrounding areas, but not to a great extent (not yet, anyway). I'd hope to spark some discussion about that, partly because I so enjoy talking about it and partly so I can shamelessly steal some of your vast knowledge and creativity for my game.

So, for starters, this campaign is actually a series of short campaigns featuring different characters who are in Sespech. We are currently on the third installment, and they all happen in sequence, i.e. the events and characters of the first and second campaigns are part of the setting for the current one. I'm always DMing in concert with another DM, one for the first campaign and another for the following ones. Currently I'm more of an assistant to the DM, concerning myself mostly with world-building and everything setting-related, as that's what I like most. I'm going to send the main DM a link to this thread so he can follow it as well.

As for the campaign itself. In short, the first campaign was about a noble family with a recently deceased patriarch with a disputed succession facing accusations of treason; the second one was about a group of upstarts led by a noble wishing to carve a large piece of land for himself in the wilderness of the Golden Plains, and the third one is about Sespechian special operatives fighting off a Chondathian invasion meant to unseat King Aldorn Thuragar from the throne.

I have made a few changes (and a lot of assumptions and additions) to the canon material. For example, Aldorn Thuragar is a king, not a baron. It seemed weird to me for a place as large and self-governing as Sespech to be called a barony. More importantly, my Sespech has a considerably more feudal-like social and military organization than most of Faerûn. I thought that wasn't too far-fetched, as despite being in a crossroads position Sespech is a bit of a backwater place compared to Chondath and Turmish (I remember there was a recent thread about feudal armies in Faerûn, so I hope to get some attention, even if it's to say Sespech couldn't possibly be a feudal realm I'm aware there's a lot of stuff in the lore that would contradict it, and a ruler with the title of "baron" might indicate the place has lost any kind of vassalage relationships and keeps titles as tradition only, but hey...). Anyhow, I have divided the kingdom in various "counties" and "marches" (Language differences apply, as I'm Portuguese speaking). I'll look into a way of uploading the map I've made and link to it... I'm not skilled in graphical software so I've done it by hand and it's not so great, but oh well.

I will post more info about everything later, and maybe ask some direct questions you may be able to answer... right now my head is hurting though... I take a really long time to write a decent post! Also, it might be better if I organize the information into a coherent form instead of just writing a block of text. So stay tuned, I guess!
30   L A T E S T    R E P L I E S    (Newest First)
Mapolq Posted - 15 Aug 2015 : 22:26:03
Thanks, sounds sweet! My campaign went out of Sespech for a while and it's been some time since we don't game (thus the severe lack of updates...). But I plan to return to this someday and it's always fun to integrate some newfound lore.
Dalor Darden Posted - 15 Aug 2015 : 02:49:52
MT and his map skills...crazy stuff!
Markustay Posted - 07 Aug 2015 : 21:08:45
I was looking for something else entirely, and came upon the realm of Maurmurran which existed within Sespech around 888 DR. The history is about a Magister who ruled the place - you can find it on pg.54 of Secrets of the Magister.

At the very least, it gives you a new ruin to play with (Castle of Beasts).
Mapolq Posted - 29 Nov 2013 : 19:21:51
I just edited my big post to include Chapter 5 of my campaign. I hope I'll find the time to do a proper writeup of the city-state of Innarlith in my world soon. We've moved south on this last arc, so the north will have to wait.

PS: I actually wrote a short epilogue in prose for a few important characters of Chapter 5 (Janus, Samira, Laithe and Assur), but I wasn't really sure I should post them. They're... uh... I never really... well, they're crappy, but if someone is interested in the characters I suppose it could be fun to read.
Mapolq Posted - 14 Oct 2013 : 16:37:16
Hehe, it's pretty cool, and your WIPs are awesome as always. I'm happy to see you guys using my stuff.
Markustay Posted - 14 Oct 2013 : 14:21:36
Posted a new WIP - hope you like what I've done with the place.

You can find the link in my Elsir Vale conversion thread (so I don't have to explain everything twice).
Markustay Posted - 12 Oct 2013 : 14:43:04
I'll be using the 'Anglicized' versions thereof.

However, this fits into what I am doing with the whole campign in the Gazeteer. The RHoD and SoW adventures use different names for the Channath Vale and things therein, and I explain some of that by saying those are newer names (post-spellplague) that recent cartographers are placing on historic maps (the one in RHoD) anachronistically. Other things, though - like the names of certain geographic features - I simply say are the local names, which don't always match the terms that are wider-known (like on our campaign maps).

Jhaamdath, Calimshan (Shoon Imperium), Unther, Mulhorand, and even Chessenta (to a lesser extent) all tromped through that region of the northern Shaar, and all made maps, and then all went home and recorded their own names for those geographic features. Eventually, the Cormyrians took all of that information and created their own, 'correct' maps for everything, and those became the accepted 'world maps' we are familiar with.

Local maps will still have the older, local names on the them. Thus, the map of Sespech IN Sespech have the original, Dathite (Chondathan) naming conventions. My map will be the one available in major cities elsewhere, produced by the superb (and world- renowned) Cormyrian Cartographer's Guild (most of whom are also Herald and Harper agents - its actually the Heralds that keep the most accurate maps).

So the maps I am working on - before I even decided to incorporate Mapolq's material - already had a good number of places that had two different names, so I have no problem incorporating them with the translations, because it fits in with what I had already had going on there.

Or as the old saying goes... "Never trust a Sembian Guide while traveling through Amn."

EDIT: I am studying one of Ed's original maps ATM, and if t matters at all to you, there are NO bridges at Nagaford and Roaringford. There IS a bridge just north of Kurrsh, where The Golden Road crosses The Nagaflow. It appears you were correct, Mapolq; it was an error on that one map that showed bridges there. I will be adjusting MY maps accordingly.
Dalor Darden Posted - 12 Oct 2013 : 05:50:51
Glad to see all this work coming to more fruit here guys...all of this is in my New Grey Realms.

EDIT: I should note that the language spoken in my own Grey Realms Sespech is going to be a dialect of Chondathan...and thus the Portuguese words on the maps. If my players want to know what it means (if/when they go there), they will have to learn for themselves!
Mapolq Posted - 12 Oct 2013 : 05:27:03
Heh, shame on me for not checking my sources. I was actually confused - Firesteap Citadel doesn't seem to appear on any maps apart from the ones in the Watercourse Trilogy, which leads me now to believe it was created by Philip Athans for that series. Anyhow, it is canon, and located approximately where I put it.

Also, since the etimology interested you, I was a bit too eager to try to explain there too, and assumed too much. As it often happens it seems the story is more complicated than that... "trevo" as "crossroads" seems to come from latin "trivia", meaning "three ways" from "tri" -> "three" and "via" -> "way". On the other hand, the romans seemed to call the clover a "trifolium" or "three leaves". How the same word, "trevo" came to denote the two in Portuguese, I couldn't actually find, but both are obviously related by the "tri" element. By the way, the word "trivial" (as well as the more modern word "trivia") also comes from latin "trivia", apparently from the reasoning that trivial things are those that happen at crossroads, where people meet all the time.
Markustay Posted - 11 Oct 2013 : 21:11:41
Ah, okay - I've never seen that Citadel before.

As for the rest, I've been re-reading your homebrew lore - its been awhile since my first read-through (I should have done that sooner!) I realize that it is ''Crossroads', but I hadn't made the connection to the leaves of a clover (its always fun to learn new etymology stuff).

Hopefully I will have something new to show later - I've been working on it all day.
Mapolq Posted - 11 Oct 2013 : 18:51:52
1- I assume you mean the one on the Nagawater. It's named Lofozen (homebrew and completely made-up name) and is a village of around 1,300 people (it could be a town by size, but hasn't been recognised as one officially).

2- "Vila" means "town", not "village" or "villa". When a (portuguese) settlement became a "vila" that's somewhat equivalent to an English settlement receiving a town charter. So Vila Marsegot is a small town of 1,088 people. (In French, a "ville" is a city, in Portuguese, a "vila" is a town, in English, a village is, well, a village... and in latin - and modern Italian too - "villa" means a large rural estate. That latin root just went everywhere).

3- "Paragem" means "the environs" and "trevo" does mean "clover", but in this case it refers to a crossroads (a typical clover has three leaves, so the point from where three paths diverge is called a trevo - clover). So "Paragem do Trevo" means "by-the-crossroads", I translated it to Crossroads Stop because the other name would sound weird in English. (Crossroads Stop would rather be "Parada do Trevo" though).

4- It's Firesteap Citadel, a canon fortress controlled by Innarlith that appears on various maps.


I need to check Ed's thread.
Markustay Posted - 11 Oct 2013 : 16:45:14
What is the name of the settlement just below the name 'Sespech' (on The Nagaflow), and what size is it?

Is villa Marsegot an actual villa, or is there a village there?

Does "paragem do Trevo" literally mean 'stopping the clover'? (I hate online translators)

EDIT: What is "Castle Firesteap"? (and BTW, I just had Ed answer a question I had regarding the name of those mountains - you can read it in his thread.)
Mapolq Posted - 11 Oct 2013 : 16:09:25
Awesome collage. Sometimes it's hard to find the references from so many sources (I'm sure you know well), but hells, that's one of the reasons that makes it so fun.

Thanks for the info!
Markustay Posted - 11 Oct 2013 : 13:33:23
There are supposed to be some hills there, to the west of the road out of Innarlith, but I exaggerated them a bit for that map. The name - Shieldmaidens - comes from HERE, and is probably somebody's homebrew (I haven't found a name for that cluster anywhere else). I plan to do a gazeteer for this campaign when the map is finished; its NOT CANON.

The Steapwood is found on the 3e map of the Shar contained in Shining South - it is really ALL the woods between the mountains. I stretched those mountains, and divided the forest -see below.

The Winterbole (and Harken) is located in Nentir Vale - I have placed that core setting within The Realms - its very good, and deserves to be kept around come 5e.

I am also using Elsir Vale, which is a 'core-erized' version of FR's Channath Vale. Maps for that came with both the 3e Red hand of Doom product, and the 4e Dungeon AP Scales of War. You can find those maps on the net. The map for Overlook (that small cluster of settlements around the Dun Hills) came with the Bordrin's Watch installment of SoW (4e), and fit very poorly with the FR terrain (unlike the rest of Elsir Vale), and didn't even fit well with the rest of the AP (the map need to be rotated and resized to work with the others - it was just a mess).

The final thing added is that section just below the eastern cluster of the Firesteap Mountains - that terrain matches (to scale) the Darkmoon Vale material available from Paizo. However, I will be renaming it 'Sharvale', and tweaking the names as well, just to avoid possible problems.

There is actually much more to the map then what you see, and the whole thing will be detailed (including a gazeteer with an index telling where everything came from) on the Piazza forums, eventually.

You can see the overlays HERE. Note that you can barely make-out the Overlook map (on the bottom of the Border Kingdoms map), and the Scales of War Map is under the Elsir Vale map from Red Hand of Doom - but the terrain layout is identical, and fits the terrain of the 3e Channath Vale perfectly (because it was lifted from there whole-cloth). I should have put the SoW map on top of the RHoD one for this montage (its prettier), but you get the idea. Its designed to be a 'sandbox campaign' with lots of different things to draw from.

EDIT: The map of Lapiliiya (and Tharsult) comes from the Serpent Kingdoms map of that region. It blends in with the rest of the 3e map so well I forgot it was there LOL. All individual maps are to scale, so when you are in those regions, you can use the more detailed regional maps for each.
Mapolq Posted - 10 Oct 2013 : 21:25:21
That's a cool idea! I'd have it be lost knowledge in my campaign, so people would just report being able to walk over the water for a while near the (roaring) Roaringford, and even push carts over it with ease (before they plunge into the river due to doubt and lack of mental discipline).

That'd also explain why people decided to build a detour to the (calmer) Nagaford later. So the Nagaford path would be the main road now, and the Roaringford one more of a curiosity and slightly dangerous shortcut. In my campaign, of course.

Also, on your map... can I ask you if the Harken, Winterbole and Steapwood Forests and the Shieldmaidens are detailed somewhere? I know the Steapwood from some maps, the others are new to me.
Markustay Posted - 10 Oct 2013 : 16:50:29
The bridges dated back to the time when Chondath was trying to expand to the south, through the Chondalwood. The elves put a stop to that. For all we know, the brides may have been built by Jhaamdath.

I left them in mine, but like I said, I tweaked the hell out of everything to have it make more sense. I just posted a WIP of what I have so far so you can see what I did with the roads. There should be a settlement at the middle bridge, and there will be a trail leading north from that to Elbulder (to make it more like the original).

I just had an idea for at least one of those bridges - what if Jhaamdath did build it, and its a 'mind bridge'. In other words, there is no bridge there that anyone can see (like invisible), but persons of Jhaamdathan descent can simply walk across (but you got to believe!)
Mapolq Posted - 09 Oct 2013 : 19:56:20
quote:
Originally posted by Mapolq

Hmm... true enough. It also appears on the Faerûn Atlas, but it does not appear on the 3e FRCS. I might say it has been destroyed recently for some reason, or just ignore it. Thanks!

Now, the two bridges to the east are actually fords. They're marked as fords in the Faerûn Atlas and named as such (the Nagaford and the Roaringford). I'd be inclined to consider the bridge icons in the EotSS map an error or simplification in that case. As you said, it'd be silly to build two large bridges so close to each other (ever the road detour looks a bit silly, in my campaign there would be one major path through the Nagaford and a secondary trail through the Roaringford, or maybe the other way, since it'd look more sensible in my map).

Mapolq Posted - 09 Oct 2013 : 19:53:54
Hmm... true enough. It also appears on the Faerûn Atlas, but it does not appear on the 3e FRCS. I might say it has been destroyed recently for some reason, or just ignore it. Thanks!

Now, the two bridges to the east are actually fords. They're marked as fords in the Faerûn Atlas and named as such (the Nagaford and the Roaringford). I'd be inclined to consider the bridge icons in the EotSS map an error or simplification in that case. As you said, it'd be silly to build two large bridges so close to each other (ever the road detour looks a bit silly, in my campaign there would be one major path through the Nagaford and a secondary trail through the Roaringford, though I didn't detail that area yet).
Markustay Posted - 09 Oct 2013 : 18:54:25
But there IS a bridge there in canon - check the map in Empires of the Shining Sea. Not sure if that is what you meant.

There are three bridges total - the other two are (weirdly) close together and near the forest (in my current Shaareach map, I tweaked them a bit to make more sense).

Thanks for the info.
Mapolq Posted - 09 Oct 2013 : 16:57:33
No problem at all, Markustay.

So, most of these small settlements are homebrew, with a few exceptions (like Kurrsh). I usually try to give a more varied language mix to my names. I find that the usual realmsy names are often very complicated-sounding, but still with an anglic bias pretty much for the entire world, which I find a bit strange. But take it as you may, and feel free to rename whatever. Some names have elements in Portuguese which do mean something. When I say their names in the full description up in this thread I usually give the translation. Salto Salmach (a little bit loosely) means Salmach Falls, Passo Virraj is Virraj Ford (or Virrajford as I named it in analogy to names like Daggerdale, Waterdeep and so forth).

I try to give some regional consistency to the names too, even though I throw quite a few oddballs. For example, there's lots of placenames in the Vilhon endinh in -sh -th -ch, so Arsh, Salmach, Virraj (pronounced "Virrash"). The ending -ar and similar ones is also commonplace, but I decided to make it very central do Chondath itself (and I'm toying with making it being a suffix meaning "at the" in Chondathan, so Arrabar = "at the Arran", Ormpetarr = "at the plains", "orm" being cognate to the same element found in Ormpur in Lapaliiya and Ormath in the Shining Plains).

Hulangar is a homebrew geothermally active area, it's described in the entry for Monte da Vigia. Arsh is actually the (homebrew) town at the crossing of the Nagaflow, there's a barge service there. My friend who made the map made a slight error and put it a bit to the north. And the Watercourse Trilogy did have a map of the environs of Innarlith, but it was a simple one. It has only a few locations not mentioned in my map (like the estate of Berrywilde), but those are very small places which are there because they're important to the plot. I think the only one that might be more important is a certain "Bridge Keep" on the Innarlan side of the Nagaflow, opposite to where Arsh is on my map (there is no bridge over the Nagaflow there though, but I might add some historical reason for the name).
Markustay Posted - 09 Oct 2013 : 13:36:07
I was actually looking for some settlements in southern Sespech to fill-out my latest map (Sespech winds-up on the northern edge of it), and I see you have a bunch. The only problem is, I don't know Portuguese, and if I don't convert the names to English, they don't seem very 'Realmsish'.

Are they 'just names', or do they all mean something that I can translate? Would you mind me using some of them? A few seem fairly ethnic-free, like Kurrsh & Arsh (Arse? ). I am looking at it as I type, and now that I've had more time to study it, it seems the more ethnic names are in the North, so I shouldn't have any problem, so long as you don't mind me taking them.

What is Hulangar?
Shouldn't the town crossing the Nagaflow have a name? I would think it somewhat more important then the ones North and South of it (which do have names).

Sorry for all the questions.

EDIT: I just found Kurrsh on an old map (Empires of the Shining Sea) - apparently it was one of the very few canon locals that was somehow left-off the FRIA maps. Good find!

EDIT2: Its also on the Serpent Kingdoms map for that area. I sure wish I had that original 3e map that they seem to have been using for those - such beautiful, clean textures (unlike the downloadable versions of the 3e campaign map - the rez on those is pretty bad).

Anyone know if any maps came in the Watercourse trilogy? I would think that series must have covered the geography around Innarlith pretty well.
Mapolq Posted - 15 Sep 2013 : 00:06:23
Thank you! And yup, I've taken quite a few liberties but gravitate around canon. And I'm sharing it so people can hopefully enjoy it as I do, whether they take it all verbatim or pick up a few stuff they find interesting here and there.

Also glad to help you practice your Portuguese, Dalor. Boa sorte!

Now, to resume my chronicle, hmm...
Markustay Posted - 14 Sep 2013 : 19:09:00
That's what it's all about...

ENJOYING the canon, but not being a slave to it.
Dalor Darden Posted - 14 Sep 2013 : 18:42:35
Yep, stealing all of this. My niece (by marriage) is from Brazil; and I've been practicing a bit; so all of this is legible to me!

Thanks for all of your hard work Mapolq!

This is all going into my new Grey Realms of Aerk...homebrew inspired by MT...but vastly different even than his.
Mapolq Posted - 14 Sep 2013 : 17:37:18
So... I haven't been very active lately, but here's the map I promised (with most names in Portuguese, though - sorry). I enlisted one of my friends to make this possible, graphical work is due to him.

http://mapolq.deviantart.com/art/Sespech-Internet-400185871?ga_submit_new=10%253A1379176455
Mapolq Posted - 22 Mar 2013 : 18:07:55
Aviso aos meus jogadores: contém spoilers!
Warning to my players: contains spoilers!

Note: this was originally on the first page, but I'm splitting it to keep that post a little less gigantic.

Behind the Scenes

The Innarlan Canal debacle

Apart from the ever-present threat from Chondath, one subject has dominated Sespechian foreign policy for the past decade: one man's idea to build a canal linking the Lake of Steam west of Innarlith to the Nagaflow river, thereby connecting the Sea of Fallen Stars to Toril's oceans.

The forty miles long stretch of land started to be dug in 1365 DR, with funds from the government of Innarlith. The city's Thayan Enclave, led by Khazark Marek Rymüt, initially abhorred the idea, preferring the use of portals as means of transportation, despite their risky nature. After many years of failed attempts to disencourage the Ransar of Innarlith from going ahead with the project, the Thayans finally decided to seize the opportunity and assume control of the project themselves, building a series of short distance magical gates to bypass critical points along the way. Ivar Devorast, the Cormyrean engineer who designed the canal saw it as an affront to his masterpiece and sabotaged the canal works in 1374 DR by doing a series of smokepowder blasts on key spots, and delaying the building for a few years. Only through the diplomatic efforts of the new Ransar Pristoleph and the discreet wizard from Telflamm named Janus Morgreant it was that Ivar's team and the Thayan Enclave, under new leadership, agreed to proceed with the digging, following the engineer's original plans with limited magical assistance. At present, the workers are still too busy clearing the rubble to cross the final six miles that separate them from the Nagaflow.

Meanwhile, in Sespech, the reaction to the canal can be split in two main camps. On one side, the king and his supporters wish to impose heavy tolls along Sespechian waters to profit from the traffic going both ways through the Nagawater after the canal is completed. On another, several nobles and merchants led by the clever Janus Morgreant want to negotiate with Innarlith for a share of the profits made from ships crossing the canal, in return for a token investment by the crown and a treaty of mutual protection. They argue that the aggressive posture of the king's camp would lead to inevitable interference from foreign nations, but the king is fully confident in his plans and in his army. Recently, the king has settled for a plan involving two checkpoints in Travessia de Ior and Dusham, at the opposite ends of the Nagawater. Following this scheme, northbound ships that wish to trade with Ormpetarr need only pay a smaller toll at Travessia de Ior, while the majority of ships, which would be making the whole journey, must pay both. Southbound ships, on the other hand, would pay a lesser toll at Dusham and a higher one at Travessia de Ior, to the same effect.

Two key personages in this were Marquis Falz Krivand of Via Áurea and the late Count Worton Wiverfang of Alto Vassara, who control the sites of Travessia de Ior and Dusham respectively. The king has dealt with Falz Krivand by splitting his domain in two and creating the new March of Nagaflow, while Worton Wiverfang had decided to support the king after hearing of the Thayan involvement with the Innarlans, due to his distrust of wizards. Janus Morgreant, however, once a good friend of Worton's and secretly an admirer of the Red Wizards, tried to change his mind. He failed to sway the willed Worton, however, and this created a rift between the two, so much that when Janus learned of the king and Worton's intentions to oficialise the crown's policy, he poisoned his old friend in his bedchamber leaving his grandchildren to scramble for his title and lands.

The revenge of Marek Rymüt

After the failure of the Red Wizards to complete the Innarlan Canal using short-range teleportation magic, the enclave's Khazark, Marek Rymüt, lost a great deal of influence in the senate of Innarlith, and the Zulkirate replaced him with Rhis Barzadil, a younger female wizard with not quite as much power, but greater influence within the Innarlan social circles. Rymüt, on the other hand, was to be sent to a subordinate position at an embassy in Tethyr. That relocation never took place, however, as Rymüt ignored his superiors' orders and left the city of Innarlith in secret, becoming a renegade Red Wizard. His long-time companion, the black dragon Insythrillax, found him and both retreated to Rymüt's demiplane, called The Land of One Hundred and Thirteen, where they began experimenting in earnest with the creation of magical beasts.

After a short time developing a new breed of insectoid creatures made out of body parts of captured nagas, ankhegs and other beasts, Rymüt's demiplane became too small for them, and he chose some woodlands just north of Nagaflow Keep to unleash his creations. In a few months' time, he had perfected mental control of the creatures with his brilliant grasp of enchantment spells and could send them on raids against any settlement or building site in a radius of over a hundred miles, including the canal works. Seeking to undermine those who had scorned him, he directed many of his creatures there, but he also started taking control of the southernmost part of Sespech. He established a makeshift base in the woodlands for his travels to the Prime, but spends most of his time working on his plots and relaxing in his abode in the safety of his demiplane.

The nagas of the Nagalands

Centuries ago, the Kingdom of Sespech demarcated a line in the middle of the Nagawater lake which its ships could not cross. South of the line was naga territory, and they were often fiercely protective of it. Oddly, little has been heard in the last decade of the powerful naga presence in the region aptly named the Nagalands, which cover the southern Nagawater and its coasts and, sometimes, the Nagaflow river itself. This is due in most part to self-preservation from the part of the nagas. As the Innarlan Canal entered planning stage, Yaphyll, the zulkir of Divination, visited the nagas, taking the master engineer Ivar Devorast along. Aided by an ancient scrying and divination device known by some as the Clouded Eye of Oryndoll, she managed to get a point across to the creatures of the Nagaflow: their world was changing, and if they wanted a place on it, they would need to adapt. Most of the nagas were very impressed, and some even admired the concept behind the canal itself, after it was presented to them. Yaphyll gifted the Eye to the nagas as an offering of peace, and this resulted in the cessation of any hostilities from the part of the river creatures, and their retreat to more secluded homes underwater and in the Chondalwood. Secretly, the zulkir has the means for swiftly and effortlessly retrieving the item if the nagas ever break their part on the agreement, or are deemed irrelevant to further operations.

The coming of Marek Rymüt to the Nagaflow basin, however, has stirred the situation a bit. Eager to test his new creatons, Rymüt unleashed a kind of giant electric eel on the river, and those monsters started openly attacking individual nagas. Many of the nagas started to ponder whether submitting to human expansion would not result in their extermination in any case, and Innarlan authorities seemed completely deaf to their concerns. Then a merchant prince from Nimpeth, Inoreth Wasgall, appeared with a small fleet and army of mercenaries, and pledged to aid the nagas in their new struggle, as long as they kept their part in the bargain and let shipping cross their waters. Inoreth, as well as Khazark Rhis Barzadil, are onto Marek Rymüt's identity and plans, though they do not divulge that to anyone. Inoreth has since established a presence in the new March of Nagaflow and is battling Marek Rymüt's creatures, with the aid of his ally Lord Bastian Greylander. Lord Bastian or, more accurately, his advisor Nassam, are starting to suspect Inoreth knows more than what he lets out, but for now they are allies of convenience.

Gavilon Jostins, the king, and the running of a kingdom

King Aldorn Thuragar's method for running the kingdom of Sespech is rather more "hands-on" than that of his predecessors. All important decisions pass through the king's approval, and he often visits towns all over the country during communal meetings to be up-to-date with current local politics. This centralizing effort has been met with fear and caution by many of his subjects, as even though King Thuragar is a benevolent man beyond the suspicions of all but the most paranoid Sespechians, the erosion of the Sespechian tradition of locality brings worries to many, especially and understandably to the minor nobility and town councils.

Interestingly, the ability of the king to travel around the country with speed has sparked several theories among his detractors. The most common claim is that the king is using magically transformed doubles to attend several meetings at once, others say he is employing translocation magics. Given the reluctance and sometimes outright reviling many Sespechians feel in regards to arcane magic, these are sometimes posed as serious accusations against the king. No one has, so far, been able to prove these accusations, but evidence shows something of the sort must be going on.

In fact, King Aldorn Thuragar uses both methods above in a pretty regular fashion, especially in times of crisis. For this, he counts with the help of his friend Gavilon Jostins, the mayor of Elbulder. In addition to having mastered simple transmutations and translocation magics many years ago, Gavilon has recently developed a highly secret system of teleportation circles connecting Castle Thindath with Mimph and Elbulder. Taken together, these magical tricks allow the king to appear pretty much anywhere in the kingdom within a day, without being recognized until he wishes to be.

During the events of the siege of Ormpetarr, the king has used the help of Gavilon extensively, hardly staying in Castle Thindath for an entire day druing the crisis. He felt the need to do so to organise the Sespechian military as a response to the Chondathian invasion, though he never appeared in his true form outside of Ormpetarr during this period. The reasons are threefold: firstly, to do that would prove his opponents' argument that he is abusing arcane magic to rule the kingdom, secondly it could be seen as if the king was abandonig the citizens of Ormpetarr in their hour of need, and thirdly, the king and his advisors thought it best to lead the Chondathians into thinking they had the king and his court held up in Ormpetarr and the rest of the kingdom was lacking leadership. As such, while the siege was in effect, the king and Gavilon visited a great amount of towns and castles and gave explicit orders to a number of agents across Sespech in the guise of a host of personas created for this very purpose, though only the highest ranking agents and most important nobles knew their true identity.

[To be continued...]
Dalor Darden Posted - 08 Feb 2013 : 16:53:21
quote:
Originally posted by Mapolq

Edit: And now for something completely different - Dalor, you should really show up in our NWN2 PW sometime.



I had planned to, however I have been so crushed by the weight of so much crap it isn't funny! My internet keeps breaking down, and I get like 20-30 minute windows where it is working properly.

Life will settle in more once I leave Virginia for the Seattle WA area...I'm still very interested in your game!
Dalor Darden Posted - 08 Feb 2013 : 16:50:21
quote:
Originally posted by Markustay

Yup - if I ever get my PCs down to Sespech I will be shamelessly looting all of this.

@Dalor - wait until you see what I've done with 'your' Ixinos. Its now part of the Kingdom of Alvalon (which is based around Absalom from PF, which I shoe-horned into that part of the Inner sea... one Inner Sea is as good as any other).



Share man!
Mapolq Posted - 08 Feb 2013 : 16:10:59
I've been fleshing out noble families and mercenary companies of Chondath for a while (most of them just slightly adapted from canon, so I decided not to post them here). I usually follow the developments in my campaign to decide what I'm going to do, and that means I'll probably go with more detail in Sespech before spreading out more, as we'll be going back there for the next chapter.

I found out the second book of the House of Serpents trilogy by Lisa Smedman is set in Sespech, so I really have to read that and grab whatever fits from her interpretation (the canon interpretation) of the nation.

As far as other places go, when I have the time I'll most likely be tackling Reth, Hlondeth and Innarlith next, and then going for Turmish. Though I should do some stuff on the wilderness areas too.

Edit: And now for something completely different - Dalor, you should really show up in our NWN2 PW sometime.
Markustay Posted - 08 Feb 2013 : 15:17:12
Yup - if I ever get my PCs down to Sespech I will be shamelessly looting all of this.

@Dalor - wait until you see what I've done with 'your' Ixinos. Its now part of the Kingdom of Alvalon (which is based around Absalom from PF, which I shoe-horned into that part of the Inner sea... one Inner Sea is as good as any other).

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