Land's End

Land’s End is just that – the end of the world. North, south, east, or west – whichever direction you travel, sooner or later you will reach Land’s End. Not many people in Kimartarthi have seen it, as there are few places near civilization where it is visible. And it’s not a destination, since, well, it’s the end of the world and there ain't much there.

Those who have seen it, though, say it is a strange and marvelous thing. The land simply ends and drops off into a sea of mist that stretches out beyond the horizon. There are strange tales about Land's End, too. Some tell stories of men who have strayed too close to the mist only to be seized by wraiths, pulled their deaths, and never heard of again. 

What terrible fate beyond the grave could await the poor soul who perishes beyond the borders of the world? Only those risking a TPK may ever find out!

The City of Mudun

Real life is still a bit hectic with a new addition to the family. I've only just made it back to the gaming table after hiatus of two and a half months. (There's a good write-up of our session here.) Hopefully, I'll get in more game time and more blog time. I've been asked to do some more posts that describe my world of Kimatarthi and lay off the mechanics for a bit. ...ok, so it was my lovely (but non-gaming) wife who made the request, but I thought it a wise suggestion anyhow. Hey - I have at least one regular reader!

The City of Mudun

Like most cities, Mudun was destroyed in the Goblin War. Anyone who didn’t flee met an unspeakably brutal end. The city was sacked, and only a vacant, crumbling shell was left. It remained like that for several decades until an exodus known as the Great Rebuilding. The overcrowding, disease, and poor quality of life in Markaz eventually began to create agitation and instability in the city. Desperate, the rulers organized a military campaign to retake Mudun and reestablish a human presence east of the Lowlands. It was the last great Bakdunis campaign against the goblins. After clearing the city and the surrounding area, thousands of civilians were sent to reestablish Mudun.

The original city sat on either side of a river, but the goblin threat is still very real and Mudun is a frontier town. To bolster the defenses, the rebuilt Mudun exists only to the  north of the river, and all but one bridge connecting the banks were destroyed. On the south side of the river is the scarred and crumbling ruins of the old civilization… and the vast majority of the region’s wealth.

Mudun was chosen as the first city to rebuild because of its proximity to arable land, pastures, and mineral resources. Yet the sheer number of goblins continues to make access to these resources perilous. Each day just before dawn the Bridge Gate is opened, and people flood across to do their work in goblin territory. Each evening at dusk the gate is locked again. It makes work life difficult, but it is the only way to preserve the city from the ever-present goblin danger, as those unfortunate souls who are occasionally stranded on the wrong side of the river would attest if only they could be found.

The Great Rift

One of the several dramatic defining features of Kimatarthi is the Great Rift. This is a massive fault line that runs nearly the entire length of the land from north to south. It marks the western edge of the central lowlands and the beginning of the western mountains. The Rift itself is a sheer escarpment some 1,500 meters high, though its prominence decreases in the north.  In my mind, it looks a bit like the Bandiagara Escarpment in Mali, but much higher.

Pic by Andres Barragan, modified

At the top of the Great Rift, the snow-capped High Mountains roll into the Western Desert. Waterfalls, craggy outcroppings, and interesting irregularities periodically break the cliff face, but it is basically sheer. And since it is so high (and there are no X-treme hobby climbers in Kimatarthi), it is impassible. At its base is the Black River, which itself runs from the north to a small sea in the southern part of the central lowlands. At some points the river runs directly along the sheer face of the Rift, but at other points loose, rocky deposits create a sort of shoreline.

The cliff face gradually becomes less in the north, as the hills gain elevation. It breaks west at its northernmost point, allowing for east-west passage. The city of Markaz rests at this gap. In the south, the Great Rift simply runs into the mists of Land’s End.

Besides being a cool fantasy feature, the Great Rift serves the gaming function of adding distance between zones that would otherwise be relatively close. In the early days of world creation, I found myself wondering why the populations of Bryss didn’t just expand east into the central valley, and why the goblin hordes didn’t swallow up the city along with the other southern towns. It made sense to create a geographic feature that would isolate Bryss, so that it wasn’t tied to the fate of the other southern territories. In so doing, I found that it also forces travel to move north-south, which means that there is a larger frontier for the players to explore. The Great Rift forces caravans to cross the Western Desert between Markaz and Bryss. The Great Rift forces players to base their exploration of the central valley far in the north. In short, I think it is a constraint that encourages more plot hooks and interesting adventures. Also, huge cliffs are awesome.