"When we arrived at the frontier outpost, we were greeted by a quiet emptiness. The unexpected stillness of what should have been a bustling center of activity was mysterious, to say the least. Even more concerning, not a single thing was out of place. No signs of struggle, no damage to the tents or wall. It was almost as if the soldiers and their retinue vanished into the air.
The men and I were the relief force, sent to replace the soldiers who had spent the last two sea...
2025-03-21 12:23:06 +0000 UTC
View Post
The remnants of the Chapel stands firm against time, a skeletal reminder of it's followers. The foundation, the remaining walls, echo with Gregorian-esque chanting barely perceptible, except in the most still of moments.
Even after it's fall, and the powerful force of decades of degradation, something soothing remains in this place. A very few still make a pilgrimage to the Chapel Ruins, believing it to still hold a sacred purpose in the world.
I too, was a skeptic, ...
2025-02-28 18:22:28 +0000 UTC
View Post
"Burglar's Cave, is what they called it. We knew of brigand attacks on travelers and merchants within the Doldorian Pass near Mount Doldor, but no matter how many patrols we sent, no evidence of brigandry was ever found.
It was only by sheer luck, during the apprehension of a thief caught up in a murder-gone-wrong in a nearby hamlet that we found our first clue. Upon receiving promises to spare his life in exchange for information of associates, the young stray shocked us al...
2025-02-26 18:01:08 +0000 UTC
View Post
"An outpost. What a poor name for such a quaint little village. Still, it's what made us our living, tending to the needs of the traveling merchants and goods peddlers.
Folks came in through all venues. By foot, mule-driven carriages, even ferries and small dinghies by way of dock. Of course, anyone making such journeys have needs. Beasts of burden and trader alike need feed, water, and a place to rest. But by far the most frequented establishment in the tiny hamlet was th...
2025-02-11 17:12:12 +0000 UTC
View Post
""Chelrie, wait!" Alya cried out to her mischievous travel companion as she got tangled in the thicket. The idea of being left alone was almost as terrifying as Chelrie's latest adventure to some obscure location where she claimed to have found wondrous things. "Chelrie Brandybrook Tallberry, you stop this instant!"
Such halfling children rarely travel so far from the roost, and while Chelrie had been Alya's friend nearly since birth, the realiz...
2025-01-31 19:24:06 +0000 UTC
View Post
"It's not just any soldier who gets stationed at the gate to the Wildlands. Whether it be a proving ground or a punishment, those that keep watch towards the northern wilderness live an unforgiving life. While the wall extends far in either direction, the gatehouse and the surrounding fortifications remain the most passable route to the mainland due to the surrounding terrain.
The Wildlands Pass Guard are comprised of only the most capable rangers and tacticians, but to the...
2025-01-26 19:24:08 +0000 UTC
View Post
Our research took place during the day, and the day alone. The local tribes warn against visiting the site at night, but refused to disclose more, and our archaeological linguists had not yet deciphered the symbols and patterns etched into the ziggurats.
While at first skeptical, evidence of their claims were not ever too far out of perception. In one instance, our investigations into this unearthly place pushed us towards dusk. At first we thought the shadows from the tree...
2025-01-19 00:22:03 +0000 UTC
View Post
Down the Emerald Channel awaits the Emerald Reprieve Station. Originally it was the foundation for a fringe territory scout tower, but the tower was never built.
Over the decades, a wondrous, yet somehow natural, occurrence happened. The visitors to the cove were welcomed by this after days travelling down the Emerald Channel with marsh and forest on either side.
One year in my travels down the Emerald Channel, I noticed a fire pit that had been stationed on the found...
2025-01-01 01:40:01 +0000 UTC
View Post
"So, got yerself locked up, eh?" The mysterious voice said, the voice origin difficult to track in my cell.
"Well, whatever you did to be here, you're outside of the reach of the law now."
As I searched for the source of the voice, the closer I approached to the overflow drain that barely kept the dampness at bay, the louder, and strangely, deeper, the voice became.
"I might be your only hope, I fear. This will be your coffin, if you can'...
2024-12-31 01:45:25 +0000 UTC
View Post
'Neville and Bigsby's Traveling Circus'. We saw the adverts posted across their wagons as they headed down the trail. Easy score, or so we thought. Some of the boys were havin' themselves a good laugh about making them perform for us after we robbed 'em blind.
Entering the camp, we found a pair of halflings, an elf playing a lute, and an older, scrawny dwarf, enjoying their campfire together. The seven of us, ignorant and overconfident in the situation we were stumbling into...
2024-12-24 00:50:49 +0000 UTC
View Post
"The Oakwood Pass canal was the product of the monumental effort of a single nearby village, who saw an opportunity as trade ships passed by their narrow strip of land, taking the long way around to the other side of the mountain pass. Once the laborers finished filling the canal after the lock gates had been raised to position, the village blossomed into a regional trade center. For a modest fee, any trade vessels could bypass the long voyage around the cape and reach the cities ...
2024-11-30 13:28:48 +0000 UTC
View Post
Excerpt from the notebook left by dead scribe’s rucksack:
… And as such any strategies typically used for navigating such labyrinths were proven ineffective. A length of thread or maintaining a leftward cadence meant nothing while the walls conspire between themselves to arrange their own plans and pathways.
At this point, we knew the space inside the labyrinth was indeed quite limited. Familiar configurations could at sometimes be seen behind us ...
2024-11-28 18:54:10 +0000 UTC
View Post
The Mester of the Gardens was a quiet folk. If one were to ask about the current state of affairs, his response was always in regards to the orchard and the flowerbeds that made up his plot of responsibility.
After all, so many of local wonders had been disturbed by the recent changes of the world, one should take pride in keeping such a pristine, untouched garden in a state that would leave the passerby in a momentary state of bliss. No matter the worries of the kingdom, ...
2024-11-12 13:03:16 +0000 UTC
View Post
Septic Sanctuary of the Sewers
The virulent, noxious smells of the canals was an affront to one's senses, yet the guards investigating the claims of occult activity beneath the city pressed on. The channels and it's cesspools were not easy to navigate, but with the help of the waste workers who knew these tunnels well, the city guards were able to avoid the changes in depth and flow that would sink their dinghies to the bottom.
So far, th...
2024-11-01 04:58:49 +0000 UTC
View Post
Recovered Journal Excerpts from the Eldenwood Logging Expedition
"Day 34 After our successes during Greengrass, we found that the deeper we go into the Eldenwoods, the more difficult our task became. The wood from the Eldentrees became steadily harder, almost stone-like, and our saws and axes have become worn down and dulled even after just a few strokes. The headmaster promises shipments of higher quality tools, and the prospec...
2024-10-29 12:19:12 +0000 UTC
View Post
"I remember my death. I remember the moments leading to it, even the feeling of the iron passing through me, as I lost the life within me.
Then... Nothing. The nothing-ness encompassed me, and I passed into a state of unconsciousness, both of body and spirit, as if a black void passed through me. And then, to my surprise, I awoke.
I found myself awoken, kneeling before 7 creatures of such majesty, such beauty, that I found myself speechless. Even to be witnessed by t...
2024-10-17 12:43:46 +0000 UTC
View Post
"As the two journeymen, Harrod and Farstid pushed their raft through the Emerald Marshes towards the Hag's dwelling, Harrod became noticably more agitated the closer they progressed towards her domain.
"I dun know about this, mate," he protested nervously. "what if she turns us into something unsightly?"
"An' what? Go back empty handed?" Farstid retorted. "Look at what's happening to us!" he spoke without hiding the frustration in his voice.
He gestured to the go...
2024-09-30 15:42:12 +0000 UTC
View Post
"Such woe had befallen us after the ground gave out from under us within the cave. Myself and my shipwrecked crewmates couldn't help but to wonder if our fortune was irreversibly tainted by a type of luck that more resembled a curse.
Unable to climb up and back into the mouth of the sinkhole, we had no choice but to press onwards. Travelling forward, it was a rather immediate realization that the web of some species of spider much larger than we had ever set eyes upon reside...
2024-09-29 08:58:32 +0000 UTC
View Post
"The torrential flow of water chiseled away at the stone like a knife through a slice of mutton, if one were patient enough to watch for lifetimes. Each decade, the chasm grew just the slightest bit deeper, and the smallest bit wider. During the rain seasons and winter thaw it was near impassable, the foliage and trees could be stripped away at a moment's notice. But during the dry seasons, it's winding tunnel network was used by many a traveler.
Such holes had been dug thr...
2024-09-24 18:51:02 +0000 UTC
View Post
"Of the most sacred duties within, maintaining the springs and the life within the cut stone walls was of the highest priority. Skylights were carved and meticulously maintained to provide the flora and fauna the desperately needed light of the sun. In the cool winter nights, the braziers were lit as needed to provide such a climate that sustained the perfection of the inner chamber.
No matter the state of affairs, be it starvation, thirst, even war, never once has the Wel...
2024-08-31 13:20:34 +0000 UTC
View Post
"The entrance to Alelthas, witnessed for the first time, is always a spectacle to behold. Even passing through the waters provides a calm, almost rejuvenating ambiance. The young elven travellers had reached their destination, and were ready to dedicate themselves to the monastery. Each of them from highborn birth, each allowed admittance from the generosity of their families.
Alelthas was a refuge of peace and merriment, dedication to the pleasures of being young. Competti...
2024-08-27 16:53:33 +0000 UTC
View Post
"In a hamlet such as this, it wasn't often said that adventure could be found close by. Exciting moments were as simple as regaling stories of prize fishing catches told at the tavern, the teller drinking more, the story being gloated and exaggerated at a proportional rate as the ale being washed down.
Simple pleasures ran rampant. A wedding or two a season, and the bearing of children at least as often. From sewing season to harvest time, a plentitude of activity. And, of ...
2024-08-19 17:15:15 +0000 UTC
View Post
Far below the vineyard, the ferryman guided his dinghy through the narrow entrance of the cavern. This time, the goods being hauled were wine tuns. In honesty, he preferred that to the alternative. The guards moved to assist him with loading the shipment.
Travelling through the carved out hallway, he pushed aside furs and cloth suspended from the ceiling that blotted out any shouts or cries the captives may have made, continuing through to the wine cellar beyond. Despite hi...
2024-07-31 21:25:50 +0000 UTC
View Post
"As the cool eastern wind came off the water, the crisp air became saturated with the sweet fragrance of grapes. The vigneron, passing through the rows of vines, felt confident that this season would be one of plenty.
"When the grapes thrive, the world is at peace." He muttered to himself. Perhaps he put too much stock in folklore and myth, but in his aging years, he had seen nothing to contradict his belief.
Years of war and strife, famine and plague, falling nation...
2024-07-25 15:54:55 +0000 UTC
View Post
The goblin warband had been working tirelessly to free the entrance to the tomb. The sappers continued to dig their tunnels to the south, eagerly cracking the inner walls from under the surface, even as the torrential flow crashed into them as they breached the reservoir.
Buried, drowned and left to soak, he remained imprisoned in his tomb for far too long. These wretched creatures attempting to free their idol only knew his existence through the oral histories passed down f...
2024-07-15 17:33:12 +0000 UTC
View Post
The aquatic worship of a subsurface deity. Yes, below the surface, but by no means inferior. The Deep Ones, while their lives short lived, have spent decades maintaining the gateway between the depths we know and a place much deeper than those of us on the surface could imagine.
Delvers of the deep toiled tirelessly to bring this sacred landmark to it's final splendor. It is said that when the gate is activated, the truly deepest parts of reality can be seen, a reality far ...
2024-07-01 00:43:12 +0000 UTC
View Post
"The Crevace Market rested on the sea floor, nestled deeply in the rift below the city. Peddlers, Merfolk and Fishfolk alike, met peacefully within the city walls and offered their wares.
The edge the Merfolk had over their competitors was anything but fair, however. Frequent trips to the surface, and interaction with the inhabitants above, often yielded treasures unheard of from dry land. Legged beings too often steered their ships into the jagged rocks that broke just abo...
2024-06-30 11:56:53 +0000 UTC
View Post
"The Crevace Market rested on the sea floor, nestled deeply in the rift below the city. Peddlers, Merfolk and Fishfolk alike, met peacefully within the city walls and offered their wares.
The edge the Merfolk had over their competitors was anything but fair, however. Frequent trips to the surface, and interaction with the inhabitants above, often yielded treasures unheard of from dry land. Legged beings too often steered their ships into the jagged rocks that broke just abov...
2024-06-26 22:52:51 +0000 UTC
View Post
Vote for the map(s) that you'd like to see me make this month! I'll either pick a theme or a selection of the top voted ones and take it from there! :)
Canals - Think Venice, only more magical - in a similar vein to the recently flooded Greek Market Square
The Hill-market - The side of a city's large, central hill, with tiers of market spaces winding their way up to the top
Mangrove Hut - A more tropi...
2024-06-04 22:19:08 +0000 UTC
View Post
Sask lounged in his vine-strung hammock, letting his tail dip into the murky water below. The sun, at the highest point in the sky, warmed his scales in a most comforting way. "What you s-s-speak does not concern us-s-s, gill-kin" said Sask, his words coming slower than usual from his comfortable perch in the sun. "S-ssoftskins travel not through the everglades-ss, let alone within our marshes-s-s."
"No-o-oo, I speak truth!" The fishfolk replied, gurgling with frustration....
2024-05-31 17:18:55 +0000 UTC
View Post
