The Good...

The Homeland Campaign has several settlements that players can have their characters come from. It is essential to a "local" campaign to make sure that there are several things to choose from as far as where characters might hail from.

Below the recently updated map are listed several such places:

Scale: 1 mile per Hex

Bastian is a strong dwarf made tower of large size originally garrisoned by dwarves, led by a Dwarven Thane alongside his human vassals, intended to be a stop over for caravans from the dwarf kingdom that once existed in the north. It is now inhabited solely by humans and a small village has sprouted up about it that is now surrounded by an earthen wall topped by a wooden stockade. Several steadings are nearby as well, but all locals stay within a short run of the walls due to the nearby presence of the Kurg Ogre Clan as well as the more distant Korg Ogres who have mixed with orcs. The folk of Bastian are kin of the rest of the Walker’s Hold folk; but see themselves as the more hardy cousins of an already tough people. Regular “Holders” often are sent by the various family elders to serve a period of time in the “Thane’s Guard” within Bastian and spend time patrolling and of course fighting humanoids and ogres. The Thane obviously no longer rules in Bastian, but the Thane’s Guard is the only standing military the Holders have known and so tradition lives on.

Ceres is a rather small logging camp. Used also by adventurous sorts from the County of Smyth to hunt and trap it is a rugged frontier settlement. The camp is supported in a limited sense by the Count of Smyth in hopes that silver not already claimed by the Birnir Clan might be found and exploited; and it wouldn’t hurt, in his thinking, if he manages to prevent the Count of Wythe from gaining a toehold in the area. Despite its small size, Ceres has a motte and bailey at its center constructed at the order of the Count and has a blacksmith and other services not normally found in such a small camp. Of more concern to the trappers and prospectors is the tavern where good drink can be found. Travel from Ceres to Walker’s Hold is uncommon, but not unheard of. Unfortunately, conflicts with the Birnir Clan have happened when humans trek into their clan hunting lands uninvited. In turn, several “log jams” have occurred on the shallow North Fork Creek when bears push trees over into the creek and block the travel of pruned trees down the creek. The Camp Boss has had to send many more men down creek on a regular basis to cut out these jams and profits are slipping from the wasted man hours.

Grapefields is the home of the High Elven treespires ruled by King Rhannoch. Once part of a much larger elf realm that stretched north into the Blue Forest and south across Burkswood, King Rhannoch rules over a much smaller realm than his father once held hundreds of years ago. It is common knowledge that humans are not allowed within the realm of King Rhannoch, and so all avoid his forested valley and even the mountain crests surrounding it where his people patrol with Sylvan Elf scouts. At its heart Grapefields (known as Goldspires to the Elves) is an enchanted realm where the great treespires of the elves reach hundreds of feet into the air. The King’s own tree-tower is said to have bark like alabaster and leaves of silver and gold; and at its crown sits his throne of living wood that connects him via the roots of trees to all the domain he rules. The King does allow trade between his people and others, but they only travel from his realm to Bastian once each spring. Anyone attempting to enter his realm are first warned away by Sylvan Elf arrows; but if this does not work, then intruders die upon silver tipped lances as the Elf-King’s elite warriors are mounted upon white horses that pass unseen and silently through the woodlands.

Kara, Naya & Rana are semi-mobile Sylvan Elf encampments. Of the three, only Kara is ever visited by non-elves; and then only safely by the friends they have made among the inhabitants of Hollybrook and Rocky Gap. The Naya once lived along the banks of what is now called Big Walker Creek; but decades of conflict with pioneer humans from the Kingdom of Vhir to the south resulted in their numbers dwindling and deciding to move across the Round Mountains into the valley beyond. The Rana are also now under the rule of King Rhannoch; but were always allied with the High Elves even in the days of the dwarves pushing south to trade with the humans. The Kara are much more aggressive in dealing with others intruding on their valley and proactively hunt down anyone venturing into what they consider as their territory. Each of the three clans are in fact closely related and intermarried deeply; and so a runner arriving from any of these camps can quickly summon the others (and likely the Elf King Rhannoch) to bring aid. When major incursions occur (especially against the Kara from the Black Wolf Goblins) the elves simply melt away into the wilderness and vanish until the threat is passed…though they are more than capable of hit and run “retreats” that inflict horrible casualties on intruders.

Hollybrook is a somewhat unique human settlement. It is a camp of Druids and their allies; primarily ranger folk and other woodsmen. Many half-elven folk come to visit Hollybrook; but these fair folk are few and rare as most live within the realm of King Rhannoch. There are few goods to be found in Hollybrook, but those from as far away as the Kingdom of Vhir pilgrimage here before going to ceremonies at the Stones nearby. Others come to obtain druidic healing magic, traded only rarely for items needed by the druids such as weapons (rarely), gemstones (for their magic) or herbs from far places (also for their magic). The Druids of Hollybrook are a powerful force in the area; felt as far away as the Kingdom of Vhir where they often visit and tend to faithful there. Even the Black Wolf Goblins rarely try to directly attack either Hollybrook or the Stones due to the power of the Druid Rhuidach. One of nine powerful Druids within the Kingdom of Vhir and surrounding lands, he is also the great nephew of none other than King Rhannoch of the High Elves. Rhuidach is a half-elf; the result of King Rhannoch’s own niece falling in love with a human ranger and giving birth to Rhuidach. Rhuidach’s mother still lives within the court of King Rhannoch, though his human father long ago passed from the world of the living. Over six decades ago the Black Wolves attempted to sack Hollybrook; and their bones still lay scattered in the meadows surrounding the camp, a result of Rhuidach’s magic and his alone.

Krenning is a woodsman’s village with a Lord owing fealty to the Count of Wythe. Some few dwarves of Clan Birnir can be found periodically in the place, but none dwell here permanently. Krenning serves as a meeting point for trappers and hunters of northern Wythe who are often allowed to travel the lands of Clan Birnir with the understanding that no bears are to be trapped or hunted and that meat or furs they obtain are to be offered first to the dwarves for a fair price. Merchants headed north or south also often make stop in Krenning to trade some few wares before moving either to South Gate to pay for passage into Walker’s Hold to trade there (and further north) or are returning from such a journey already. Once a year the Prince of the Birnir sends his own people to do trade within Krenning with humans there; but merchants are never allowed within the true halls of South Gate and instead are only allowed to traverse the many gated tunnel through the mountains for a toll. The Dwarf Fair is often visited by merchants from several counties from within the Kingdom of Vhir and so the little village becomes rather busy for a week each year.

North Gate is the larger of the two dwarf holds ruled by the descendants of the Dwarf Kings of old; but sadly it has the smaller population of the two holds. Clan Arnar is often in skirmishes with the Bone Eater Orcs who have nearly despoiled their own orc lands completely in the past two decades. Clan Arnar lost what is now called Oldcamp to a crushing attack by the Bone Eaters over a decade ago, and now Prince Baran has pulled his warriors back as close to home as Clan Arnar’s pride will allow. Clan Arnar almost never hunts as they used to do, and instead they trade with the humans and gnomes of Rocky Gap for foodstuffs with payment in silver and weapons. The Giant Eagles that are allied with Clan Arnar are dwindling in number as their nests are often the target of orc raids when eggs are laid. To prevent their extinction all together, Prince Baran has ordered the construction of several towers near the southern gates of his clanhold that can serve as nesting peaks that will be defended by his people. Unlike their cousins to the south, no merchant wishes to pay tolls to pass through North Gate into the orc infested lands to the north. Rumor has it that Clan Arnar has fewer than one hundred warriors remaining and their ancient treasures are nearly depleted. As the Arnar dwarves allow nobody into their halls, it is unknown how true this might be; but no more than fifty dwarves are ever seen working on the towers for the giant eagles. The Arnar keep great silver coated wolves as war-wolves and companions as well. Any dwarf merchant that visits Rocky Gap will always be escorted by at least one, if not two, of these faithful creatures.

Rocky Gap is a free hold as Walker’s Hold to the south; but with no elected leader other than a War Captain that leads defense and patrols. A Council leads here, composed of the Gnome Chief and three human elders (the group varies year to year depending on human mortality) and the village High Priest. Unlike Walker’s Hold, the village has a stout stone wall, crenelated towers and all its buildings are composed of stone as well. Only outlying farming steads are built of wood, as well as shepherd’s cottages in the surrounding hills and mountainsides. The narrow gap to the north of the village is the old “Rocky Gap” but it now has a smooth dwarf-built road running through it; though only a dirt side track leaves that road and goes to the only gate of Rocky Gap where Laural Creek flows by to join Wolf Creek. There are many gnomes, all of the Clan Jasper (their gnomish name is best left not attempted) that live within the village; but most instead live in the ancient stone quarry to the southeast that the gnomes have turned into their own warrens and deep mines where they extract jasper, agate and other quartz. Other than the gem trade that comes seasonally when the mountains are clear of snow, the village is rather poor. Trappers and hunters come here and so there is some trade in that; but surprisingly the only other “trade item” the place has is in lore from lost ages. The Ardent Tower, home of the High Priest (who guards the place with his devoted warriors), has a great library where tomes that were once held within halls further afield now rest. Many are said to be magical; and so many students of magic come even from distant lands of Vhir to study here, but pay heavily to do so. Local families do make a decent living dealing with the dwarves of North Gate and their annual visit to the fair field outside Rocky Gap however; as well as year round supplying goods to Clan Arnar.

South Gate is held proudly by Prince Kaland and the Clan Birnir. One hundred dwarf warriors escort the clan’s merchants to the yearly fair at Walker’s Hold and also to Krenning for that village’s yearly dwarf fair; and it is said two to three times that number hold their halls for them while the merchants are gone. Birnir hunting parties (read patrols) also wander through their land and are quite stealthy as far as dwarves go. Merchants pay good coin to use the South Gate road through the mountain; but are never allowed within the halls proper. Each wagon enters a gate which is then closed behind them before being allowed through the next gate. There are twelve such gates between the massive outer gates, for a total of thirteen choke points within that it would take perhaps the combined army of the Kingdom of Vhir to penetrate and hope to gain the inner halls. None know at which point within the tunnel the true gates are even located, so well hidden that none have ever seen them. Even the dwarves of Clan Birnir exit their holding from small High Gates above the tunnel on either end and not from any point within. In ancient times the road was much used and Clan Birnir were simply guardians for a distant Dwarf King; but with the collapse of that realm in the north, Clan Birnir is now the strongest known dwarf clan to the humans of the Kingdom of Vhir. Clan Birnir supplies solid armor and weapons to the humans around; but not in great quantity. They don’t waste their iron on lesser implements either. They deal in some few items of silver jewelry of masterful design; but again in only small quantity and usually in return for items the dwarves desire that aren’t to be found naturally within their halls: grain and gold.

Stonecamp is a fortified hunting lodge belonging to Clan Birnir. It has some few outlying buildings not part of the underhall proper; but these are usually for visiting human hunters and rangers. The Vhirian Highland Rangers are welcome in numbers no greater than three to Stonecamp on their “patrols” in the area. While the Highland Rangers most often raid into the Iksal Forest to skirmish against the Hogboblins and their ilk there, they often visit this camp to deal with the dwarves in trade between the yearly fairs of Krenning. Dwarf crafted arrowheads are greatly prized by archers everywhere, and a master smith lives at Stonecamp year round producing them for trade with hunters and rangers alike. Of late, the rangers have also been moving across the Big Walker Mountains into the area of Ceres in winter to ward off infrequently ranging hunters from Korg; but this is deep irony as dwarven “hunters” from Stonecamp are responsible for the felling of trees to clog up North Fork Creek which causes problems of another sort for the loggers of Ceres. The rangers know about this action by the dwarves; but since it has never proven hostile, there is an understanding between the Highland Rangers and the dwarves. The rangers feel they need the area of Stonecamp to work from and supply out of more than the loggers need to have less work to make profit cutting trees. Humans not with or allied to the rangers are warned away harshly from intruding into the lands of Clan Birnir in this area and told that they may only enter Birnir territory along the roads “built just for that!” by their ancestors.

Walker’s Hold is the primary settlement of “Freemen” in the area of the Old Realm (as it is called by locals, perhaps referring to the old Dwarf Kingdom). Walker’s Hold has residents of nearly all the “goodly” people: Humans, Halflings, Gnomes, Dwarves and even Elves and Half-Elves too. All but Halflings are rare however; and the Hairfeet of Walker’s Hold number only near 10% of the population if they are honest about their numbers; though many more live in the outlying farming lands. Even when humans in the area were vassals of the Dwarf King, they usually settled only in areas where dwarves chose to settle; but with the collapse of the Dwarf Kingdom and the weakening of the nearby realm of the elves too, humans began to push into the area from what were then the scattered clans of the Vhir. Over time these groups pushed the Sylvan Elves from the valley now known as Walker’s Hold and a permanent fortified settlement (also called Walker’s Hold) was made. When the Kingdom of Vhir was founded, many more humans came seeking freedom and so they became “Walkers” too. As “Walkers” were what pioneers were called by the Vhir, they named the mountains to the north that they were unable to claim for the people that went there to settle outside the kingdom proper.

Today, Walker’s Hold is a large village that would be called a town if it were more organized. Several “neighborhoods” within it are instead groups of homes owned by the same extended family groups and these radiate out from a central area where a large market and trade buildings are located. Around this entire affair is an extensive earthwork wall topped by a wooden rampart. Unique regarding this wall is that it is a “green” wall with heavy foliage growing on the outside; but this area is in a deep dry moat and filled with prickly briars and brambles that accompany berry bushes and roses. A narrow gap exists between the wall and moat of about three paces and this is fifteen feet below the top of the wall while the depth of the dry moat is on average another five feet below. At the north gate (there is a gate at each cardinal direction on the wall) rests the only fortification in the place if not counting watch towers that ring the wall. Built of stone, this high towered keep is dwarven made; but of newer design than that of Bastian. Built less than fifty years ago by dwarven engineers hired from Clan Birnir, it is a strong round keep with two tall round towers on the wall facing north. In the eastern tower resides the Warden of Walker’s Hold who is elected “Lord” of the land; while upon the top of the western tower rests a great bronze cauldron filled with oil which is to be lit if word comes that Bastian has fallen…which is supposed to bring the aid of the Clan Birnir to Walker’s Hold.

Lord Ansen, nearing 50 years of age, will soon retire and a new Lord be elected by the Great Council. This governing body, consisting of all retired Lords and leaders of Old Families, elects a “Warlord” whenever the old Lord dies or reaches the age of 50 summers. There is no hereditary rule in this land so as to prevent tyrannical rulers from emerging from bad blood. Retiring at age 50 is a tradition born of ensuring that the Warlord is hale and able to fight alongside those he leads instead of commanding them from the rear. Once a Warlord is elected, he rules the land with little guidance however; but only in matters of realm defense, trade and diplomatic relations. The day to day affairs of the people (including dispensing justice upon criminals) is handled by the Great Council who elect from their number or by appointment from the Freeholders various positions such as judges, magistrates, and a sheriff who sees to rounding up criminals (though the sheriff answers most often to the Lord since it will be the Lord’s men he uses to enforce law). The Great Council is added to whenever a family (meaning more than 20 adult individuals) has established residency for no less than 40 years or when a Lord retires who was not originally from the Old Families. There has in fact been a Halfling Warlord in the past!

NEXT UP: "...The Bad..."