Returning to The Borderlands

Each campaign region (or map in our case) is imperilled by one of three ‘threats’ – dangers that menace each area and prevent the locals from living their lives in peace and harmony.

The most endangered areas have ratings of 6, the lowest of 1, and areas that are clear of all threat are 0. In this campaign, the threat levels begin at 6, 5 and 5. Joy! Regardless of the level, all campaigns end in one of two ways – warband death or area clearing. Obviously, I’m hoping for the latter…

Again, no name tables are included in the core rules for the settlements or places of interest, but I have plenty of online help as well as some dedicated resource material to help me flesh things out when required. For now, the things I know about the region are shown on the campaign map and are detailed below.

The Region

The campaign map shows the Northern Borderlands of the Kingdom of Valondir, with details such as are known to our Heroes.

The Settlements

• Woodrest – A medium-sized market town.
• Crowfield – A scattered farming community with a population equivalent to that of a hamlet.
• Elhryst – Also known as “the Moot”, this nomadic, hamlet-sized campsite is almost exclusively comprised of traders and travelling clans.

Points of Interest

• Monolith Fells – This wild scrubland is dotted with blasted trees and towering stone henges. It is also rumoured to be infested with countless undead and restless souls that have managed to claw their way out of the Bleached Bone Wastes to the east. Many fear that these may still be under the sway of Balabarb, and that he is reforming his hosts to once more wage war upon the world.
• Bleached Bone Wastes – This desolate wasteland stands testament to the destructive violence unleashed when the armies of Ashitus, Lord of Law and Balabarb, the God of Death battled each other in what became known as “The War of The Damned”.
• Iron March Mountains – Famous for both its metal and mineral-rich rocks as well as the fierce Dusklings that call it their home. These mountains form a natural border to the lands and act as the main bastion of defence from the wild inhabitants beyond its frozen northern edges.
• Mount Nargunar – By far the largest mountain within the already impressive Iron March Mountains, Nargunar is the ancestral home of the Dusklings. Creatures of the shadows, rather than creatures of the sun, Dusklings are stalwart warriors who place great emphasis on individual glory. When not waging war, they are preparing for war and rumblings from their massive forge workings can be felt throughout the surrounding mountains.
• Blightfen Mire – This immense bog is the result of the runoff water from the Duskling forge-factories and mines buried deep within the Iron March Mountains. Many say it is beset by beings of foul evil, creatures so twisted by the tainted water and residual magical energies that only the mad or the truly desperate would choose to brave its depths.
• Barrowlands – A region of gently rolling hills, many of which contain the buried remains of a long-dead race of giants known simply as “the Elders”. Rumours and records both agree on two things – that these tombs are filled with rare treasures and wondrous items of lost knowledge, and equally, that none who have chosen to violate them have escaped without paying a heavy price for their wilful desecration.

Campaign goals
The aim of the campaign is to eliminate (reduce to zero) each of the threats in the regions. By then, I’ll have pacified the area and the campaign will end.

Or I’ll die trying…

“A life of exploring sounds like a nice change from all the blood and misery, actually.”

– Cer Ranold, exiled noble, overheard while talking to his friend and former mentor, Hurgon de Gris