Category:Negrotharl

Negrotharl is the world in which The Banished campaign takes place.

Below you will find a list of Continents,the great cities found on them, and other points of interest across Negrotharl.

Isle of the Watcher's
Home to The Watcher's. This large island only has a single city on it.
 * Nyamaris

Theros
Theros is largely a land of mountains, hills, fjords, and great forests.

Koira
Koira is a city ruled by a monarch known as The Gray King. The name was given after the heir to the throne of the First King of Koira was kidnapped. He was later found, having been raised by a pack of wolves, and brought them home with him. Since then Wolves were the dominant animal of the country – now just a city – and have earned a place as sacred animals.

As an extension of the sacred nature of wolves, dogs have become a status symbol in Koira. A noble house will often have a kennel of Sentinel Hounds, a cross breed of wolves and an ancient dog breed that is easier to handle than a wild wolf but keeps many of their physical traits, that are pampered as though they were noble born themselves. The military of Koira also has a specially bred dog breed known as the Mobari Hound that the highest ranked soldiers take with them into battle.

As a result of dogs being treated as a status symbol, stray dogs are unheard of, and anyone abusing a dog would be punished more harshly than if they were assaulting another person. Another side effect of holding dogs in such high regard is that the people themselves idolize traits like loyalty and trust. The cities around Koira benefit from this greatly as Koira provides guards and other services to the surrounding towns and cities when requested.

Monarch’s Peak
Monarch's Peak is a subterranean metropolitan area built into the core of a mountain of the same name. Its population was once nearly entirely Dwarven, being one of the few cities not existing at the time of the arrival of the Many Races. Today, while Dwarves are still hold the majority, Monarch’s Peak has become so large it wouldn’t be strange to pass by all of the Many Races on a busy day.

Monarch’s Peak, being built into a mountain has many unique facets. Many of these unique features the originated in the distant past, and are only remembered through stories. For example, Lolth’s Web is a district of the city where homes have been built into ancient webs that some time before the Dwarves first arrived were calcified. There’s also the Arach-Tinilith, a structure in the shape of a giant spider that was once used to worship The Old Gods.

Food and lighting are also unique here. Both, the need for light, and the difficulty of finding food are both solved in the same way: with mushrooms. Much of the city is illuminated by bioluminescent mushrooms, and there are great fields and mushroom groves that provide food to most of the city.

Monarch’s Peak has a stairwell built all the way down the mountain. On the way down there are many other small cities built into and onto the side of the mountain. The higher of these cities are generally trade with Monarch’s Peak for food and other goods while the lower towns and cities have to find their own ways of getting food and supplies.

Tasvin
Tasvin, at the time of The Banishment was the richest city in the world. It was a destination for the rich from around the world to visit. Today, Tasvin is home to all castes of people, but social rank remains an ever important part of daily life.

One of the most prominent ways social rank is shown is through the use of rings when making appointments or sending letters. In the courts, when a person outranks you it’s expected that when your servant presents an invitation or requests an audience that you send a gold ring, to an equal you would send a silver ring, and an iron ring to someone below you. Different castes of citizens also have their own symbolic materials as they often can’t afford the same materials the nobles use.

Eodar
Eodar is largely made up of savannah, scrublands, a large desert and a snowy mountainous region to the Northeast.

The Hallowed City of Val Royeaux
Val Royeaux was once the greatest center of worship for Abadar, the god of cities, law, merchants, and wealth. Because of this the city is one of the most organized and impressively constructed in all of Negrotharl. After The Banishment Val Royeaux has become the home of The Refugees of the Promised, an organization that worships Anti-Magic.

The Refugees of the Promised have outlawed arcane magic from being performed by anyone but those who have a permit and Refugee of the Promised escort or those who have committed themselves to one of Towers. These Towers are essentially schools where a specialized curriculum is taught to both Arcane and Divine casters. Those committed to the Towers are expected to do the Governments bidding when called upon, and are always escorted by members of The Refugees of the Promised to ensure that they don’t use their magic unlawfully or try to escape.

Divine magic is also regulated in Val Royeaux. Casters of certain faiths are allowed to freely roam and perform magic within the city as long as they have a permit. Other faiths require an escort and a permit, while faiths considered dangerous are either confined to a Tower or are always considered unlawful.

A person using magic in Val Royeaux unlawfully is considered an apostate mage and is hunted and either captured and committed to a tower or killed. There is a branch of the Refugees of the Promised that is responsible for the capture of these apostate mages, but also sells their services to other cities to protect their people from magic users in the form of guards or escorts depending on the city’s needs.

Erasthold
Erasthold is built into the skeletal remains of the Old God Erastil, which themselves lie in the side of the snowy Ugreau Mountains. Protruding from the chest of the Old God is a giant sword. Nearly all civilization around the Ugreau Mountains was destroyed in the Great War that led to The Banishment. Because of this, Erasthold is not one of the great cities and, in truth, is not much of a city at all. Instead it’s more of a series of tribal villages in close proximity that, while each have their own chief, are ruled by the same King. The residual magics in Erastil’s body have influenced much of the surrounding vegetation and wildlife to make life easier for the people of Erasthold.

Much of the land surrounding Erasthold and the mountain range is largely populated by Megafauna. Before Erastil’s death these animals were simple beasts that often attacked travelers when scared or would stampede through villages leaving them in ruins. However, since Erastil’s death the wildlife has become much tamer and essentially domesticated, used as mounts and work animals. The land itself was also effected and crops and other plants grow in abundance around the remains of the Old God.

Oavechland
Existing on the cliff of a mountain, Oavechland is a city that was claimed by criminals shortly after The Banishment. There are few laws there, but it’s one of the few places in Negrotharl where equality for all races is present. With much of the founding population being fugitives from one nation or another it was established early on that no person living in Oavechland would be a slave. Upon entering the city, an escaped slave is a free man under the protection of the city. The only slaves within the city are those that belong to wealthy merchants or nobles visiting from other countries, but even with a permit it’s not safe to have slaves around the citizens, many who were once themselves slaves or prisoners held against their will.

While there are few laws, the city survives on an unspoken “honor amongst thieves” rule and a pride in self-sufficiency. While there are many assassins, thieves, and thugs for hire in the city, it would be seen as an insult to ask one to kill or rob another citizen within the city walls. In fact, Oavechland is seen as a sanctuary to most people, and word of the safety there has spread throughout most of the world. Because of these stances, people of nearly all races call Oavechland home.

Vordai
Vordai largely consists of swampland, marshes, and other wetlands. The center, which makes up the majority of Vordai, is a single giant swamp filled with small islands. The islands range from a few feet across to the size of a small town, mostly hummoks that develop when chunks of debris grow together via vegetation. Therefore the islands aren’t rooted to the ground and move constantly making it near impossible to cross the swamp without becoming lost.

Ko’var/Daco
The greatest city of Ko’var, Daco, was terrorized for centuries by Rovagug cultists. Unfortunately, one of those cults came so close to their goal of unleasing Rovagug upon Negrotharl that Daco was destroyed and many of the Old God’s servitors were released. Worst amongst these servitors were the Qlippoth, who after The Banishment have spread from just the area surrounding the ruins of Daco to most of Ko’var.

The constant threats to their land have made the people of Ko’var become strong, with more citizens knowing how to defend themselves than most other places one might visit. However, the constant fear of the return of cultists means that the people of Ko’var are often untrusting of strangers and new ideas.

Sthass Tur
Su’ran managed The Banishment better than most places, but only because nearly all of their citizens had been eradicated just a few centuries earlier, after a war broke out over the assassination of the King of Hepsengard. Due to their near-annihilation, the vast majority of the population lived in the great city of Sthass Tur.

Sthass Tur’s citizens have a reputation for frequently partaking in drugs and similar substances. They’re also masters of poison. Kitsune and Nagaji are the two most common races of Sthass Tur, but all races can be found there.

Orazon
Orazon is a desert continent divided by a sea.

Gaap
The desert country of Gaap is more commonly known as the Land of The Dead. Living in the capital city of Mouqur, King Vogan is a ghost who has apparently existed since before magic came to Negrotharl. All of the Aristocracy of Gaap are also intelligent undead, ranging from Lichs to Vampires, most of whom practice Necromancy themselves.

The hierarchy of Gaaps citizens is as strange as that of its nobility. In descending order are the casts found in Gaaps cities:

·        Necromancers – Mortal and undead

·        Intelligent undead citizens

·        Mortal citizens

·        Unintelligent undead

·        Mortal chattle

According to Gaap law, any mortal who dies on Gaap land is raised as unintelligent undead to be used in fields and houses. As such, slavery of mortals is nearly unheard of in Gaap. Richer mortal’s can purchase more post-life rights. The truly rich can purchase intelligent undeath, but it’s a rare few that reach that level of wealth. Most other wealthy members instead opt to invest in a reservation to have their bodies be used by one of the more well-known necromancer’s in hopes that their bodies are never used or are lucky enough to be used in an experiment that results in intelligent undeath.

Despite the knowledge that their bodies will essentially be used for slave labor after their deaths, most Gaapian citizens don’t seem to mind their fate. Instead, since all menial labor is performed by the undead and overseen by the aristocracy that controls them, most mortals enjoy the freedom to pursue whatever course in life that they’d like to take. Because of this the citizens of Gaap, while not rich, want for very little and tend to seem lazy or aloof to most outsiders.

Strangely, Gaap’s necromancy didn’t seem to be affected by The Banishment, and while suspicion has always been high as to the reaon, none have outright questioned or challenged the rulers of Gaap.

__NOCATEGORYGALLERY__