Languages of Bronn

Babble on, Babel

Language is connected to geography; here's a little on the larger languages in use around the Midsea. If you want to revise language choices, feel free to do as I didn't fill this out earlier:

Common (Low Eltharian): a polyglot language that absorbed influence from languages around the Midsea, it was the language of trade in the old Eltharian Empire.

High Eltharian: The language of the elite of Elthar, of law, religion and diplomacy. It is still used around the Midsea by elites wanting to evoke the majesty of Elthar.

Catharese: The language of the Empire of Catharn at the east end of the Midsea, it is overtaking the use of Common. The Cathars were absorbed into the Elthar Empire ages ago, but their own culture remained strong under the surface and is now becoming ascendant.

Anvouan: The language of nomads who settled North of the Wornspine, founding Anvou and Rossoan. These lands are known for their magical forests, chivalry and poetry.

Gothic: Spoken in the Northeast, by Rugenmarch and the Gothic Kingdoms.

Seteshan: Spoken by the Kingdom of Setesh, the great desert kingdom of east Gudana.

Lavik: Spoken in the Lakban states, such as Salesia, Uzice, Halych, Vylach, Morea and Sylvania, it is the tongue of the nomad barbarians who overran the region following the collapse of Elthar. Common, however, is still the language of the people.

Ancient Elvish and fey tongues: Many islands and forests are still populated by fey and elves, who speak an ancient tongue that was once ubiquitous. It is known for being evocative and fit for song. Now it has broken into many dialects.

High Elvish: A very sophisticated language built upon eons of formal philosophy, epic poetry, diplomacy and artisan skills, it is more formalized than the more emotive Fey tongues.

Race relations in Bronn

 

I wrote up some notes on inter-species relations (seems important to establish as a compass at the get go) for the campaign, then promptly forgot about it. I really have to print this stuff out as quick reference, otherwise I just wing it: 

Relations between peoples in Bronn vary by region, but there are persistent themes: humans, goblins and dwarves in particular fight over mines. 

The fey and wood elves are often locked in conflict with humans over logging and the expansion of farmlands. Goblins, fey, humans and high elves fight endlessly over the forests themselves. Some woods are still guarded by ancient treants, while others have fallen into the grip of chaos beasts.

Gerts, the obstinate and aggressive goat men, fight over hills and mountains with the goblins, giants and dwarves. 

There are stories of winged bird-men and their inaccessible aeries in the Wornspines who were prized for their feathers and the (supposed) medicinal benefits of their ground wing bones, but they have not been seen in living memory.

Thrunds, known to some as ‘noble goblins’ are found in the east of Bronn, where their martial prowess is not to be underestimated. They congregate in barrens, forests and mountains. They are fine craftsmen, but their xenophobia limits trade.

Gnomes and kobolds have a deep blood hatred, second only to their animosity with goblins, who will enslave gnomes whenever the opportunity presents.

Dwarves hate goblins most of all, and have difficult relations with high elves, who also mine and covet their precious gems. Dwarves fear and stigmatize magic, which they have no aptitude, and are deeply distrustful of wizards.

Of all these relationships, the most variable is that between high elves and humans. In the north, humans hate and fear the high elves of Erynthal, who will regularly launch punitive expeditions from their island stronghold against those who desecrate their ancient temples and sacred forests on the continent.

Anvou, which has always prized nature and has a strong druid tradition, is an exception, but this has strained relations with their human neighbours.

In Avalon, high elves are revered, as they helped expel the armies of Mercia. It also helps that the numbers of the High Elves have dwindled over the centuries, and their realms shrunk in turn. Relations with fey and gnomes can be strained, thanks to industry and logging.

Avalon’s druids and verderers work diligently to right the imbalance; farmers even form alliances with fey, offering goods and food in exchange for enchantments that provide bounteous crops yields.
The Sea Kings, as well as the Norgrun, have had a long rivalry with Erynthal, filled with piracy, raids, blockades and outright war. Enslaved elves are common in the Norgrun villages, and vice versa.
The Gothic Kingdoms are an unstable region of ever fluctuating realms, beset by roving bands of warriors; the Skaelingweald is feared and avoided, for it is filled with goblins, spiders, ogres, trolls and worse.

Most races live in isolation from each other.

The Serene Republic of Juna is the exception to the rule: a multiracial hub in southern Arthea, many races associate peaceably here. There are ambassadors and merchants here from kingdoms a world away.

Catharn, at the eastern end of the Midsea, is also quite cosmopolitan, although there are occasional fits of xenophobia orchestrated by the dark cabal that rules this fragment of once great Elthar.

The capital of Setesh, on the southern rim of the Midsea, is also said to be a great cosmopolitan hub, where people and trade from the world over mingle. A land of dark sorcery and strange rituals, they are known for their cyclopean sculptures and elaborate desert tombs.

The Lakbans are populated by many different peoples, locked in an endless competion for territory and resources. It has been conquered repeatedly, with each wave of invaders overwriting the previous, leading to multi-generational grudges. Dragons, manticore and goblin raids from the mountains keep them militarized and impoverished. It is both the site of The All-Beings first revelation, and frequent outbreaks of the undead. Powerful magical energies flow through it, for good and ill.

There are other sites in Bronn where ancient magics were awoken in ancient times, fissures in the fabric of reality, through which the impossible can flow. And sometimes still does.

Many of these sites are lost to time, grown over and forgotten.

Magic is a rare and precious phenomenon, understood by few, accessible to fewer, and feared by many.

Notes on gnomes, for the Arthea campaign

Cheeky lil tykes, gnomes

On the verdant surface of Arthea, there are two types of gnomes: the Fiahla Aonar (or Lone Gnomes) and the Mari Sraid (Town Gnomes). The Fiahla live alone in forests, communing with nature and listening to the tree spirits, animals and plants. When large numbers of people are around, they drown out the voices of nature, creating a cacophony that sensitive gnomes can find discombobulating. Tribal/town gnomes find more satisfaction in the harmony of a community of peers, and work closely with each other, in speechless synergy, to a degree other species find eerie.

Gnomes are all very talented with their hands, often dedicating themselves to gardening, knowledge of plants and potions, or to finely crafted machinery. Their keen eyesight and nimble fingers allow them to create incredibly small, intricate devices. Some work in tandem with wizards, producing delicate automata. These are strictly regulated, and stamped with the insignia of the approved wizard orders, lest they be burned as instruments of The Devil.

There are still some Fiahla gnomes living in Pelshire, although their numbers are greatly diminished thanks to logging. Several ancient forests have been cut down to build the great merchant fleets of Juna, and to heat the great city in winter. This has caused tension between the fey and authorities of Avalon. Although a treaty was signed decades ago, verderers and druids have clashed repeatedly with nocturnal loggers, illegally cutting down trees, and fey have raided logging camps. Gnomes have built ingenious traps and devices to protect the trees in the area, and they are blamed for anything that goes wrong in the logging camps. Farmers adjacent to forests, too, hate gnomes, whom they suspect of sabotaging their crops.

Many displaced gnomes found themselves in the city of Juna, where their abilities are highly coveted. That does not prevent some from being press ganged into dim factories, where they are ruthlessly exploited by cruel overlords. The Guilds of Juna do their best to prevent this sort of abuse of their most prized workers. There is even a semi-recognized guild for gnomes, the Gorman Clair.

Map of Western Bronn from the world of Arthea

This is a segment of a larger world map, focusing on the continent of Bronn, from the fantasy world of Dragon Garage. I built it out for two reasons:

1) I really wanted to do a sequel to Dragon Garage, and maps can add verisimilitude to a fantasy novel setting.

2) I needed to build out a fantasy world for a Dungeons & Dragons role playing group set in the same world. 

Combining the two tasks seemed like a reasonable idea.. at first. 

The scope of the book is comparatively narrow, far more narrow than what is needed for a role playing game. I think that's true of most books. You need an entire series to really populate an open game world.

The section above is where the adventurers are currently, but it does extend beyond, forming 3 full continents: Bronn, Cassea and Gudana. 

It's based on the inaccurate, distorted maps from early in the Age of Exploration. You can see the basic outline of Europe, with Spain in the south west and Italy towards the south east. I changed it further, adding island chains to shield shipping along the Western Ocean edge, and more islands in The Midsea (analogous to the Mediterranean). Cultures echo medieval Europe.

The book is set in the western tip of Kingdom of Avalon, near Forksbury. 

Originally, I wanted to create the entire game world of Arthea from scratch, extrapolating from popular mythology, but quickly realized how monumental a task this was. As a result, over time, more Dungeons & Dragons elements popped up. 

I also wanted to use a less well known game system, but... D&D is ubiquitous, everyone knows it, and it would be the easiest to get up and running a campaign with (even if I hadn't played in decades). 

I even added the city of Neverwinter (it appears in the D&D movie) on the West coast of Aosta: it's a city that figures in popular pre-made adventures, so I have something to fall back on if my ubermegadungeon falls flat on its face.

D&D has TONS of monsters, multiple compendiums of them, which is awesome. Coming up with an endless stream of creature encounters (not to mention spells) for players... yikes.
I can create a limited series of creatures and mythology for future books, a bit at a time, but it wouldn't be enough for a gaming group. Not for years and years...

As time has passed, my plans for Dragon Garage sequels has evolved, and now I'm not sure about the world anymore. Ah well.

That's the problem with writing fiction: new (and sometimes better) ideas are always occurring!
Along the north rim of the Midsea, Bronn is tropical to temperate. The North is temperate to arctic in the far north, especially past the Icethorns, where the giants and dragons rule. The Island of Erynthal, north of Anvou, is the bastion of the High Elves, and many of the surrounding forested islands are still ruled by fey.

To the south of Avalon is the Twilight Empire, the rump of the once great Eltharian Empire.

Gudana is dominated in the West by The Great Jungle, and the East by The Great Desert, separated down the middle by a great mountain range known as the Southspines.

The jungle is said to be dominated by lizard folk known as the Makara, and evil snake-people. Their naval raiders, known as ’sea snakes' prowl the northern shores of the Midsea, abducting villagers to sell into slavery. Humans are worked near to death and then eaten during the spring mating festivals of the snake-people.

Setesh dominates The Great Desert, and their sorcerer-pharaohs are known for dark magic and necromancy. They have green-grey skin, or blue-grey, while the commoners have mostly grey skin. In the east in the fabled Kingdom of Petenasem, home of the Sphinx-prophets. Many fabulous and magical kingdoms are to be found along the Sun Coast of Gudana, the passage to the Far East, of which little is known.