I'm going to roll up everyone's posted character information in this reply, even though it's not specific to the world building aspect, we'll definitely be building the world as these characters explore it, so that's legitimate, IMO.
Barosh was only a child when he found the corpses of his parents, torn to shreds by a wolf pack. After a year, he seemed to have finally recovered from his trauma, but the tragedy broke him in ways that would never heal. He was unable to empathize and only saw the world in shades of black and white, good and bad. When his village captured a few unaware bandits, he was found torturing them to death with fire. When he was confronted by his friends and remaining family, he burned them all to ash. Within the hour, every single one of Barosh's neighbors was little more than char and cinders. Barosh stayed in his empty village, for he had nowhere else to go. He utilized his innate spellcasting to help him with farming as well as to alleviate his solitude.
Eventually, the sounds he created began to speak to him of glory, of destined heroism. Barosh locked himself away under the façade of a hero. He believed himself in every way to be destined to save the world, and nothing was going to get in his way. Leaving behind his charred ruin of a home and the corpses that he subconsciously blocked from his sight, he began his journey to achieve his "promised" destiny.
Barosh truly believes himself a hero, but his darker side occasionally comes out in combat and interrogations. Most of the time he exudes a slightly clumsy, unassuming presence with no other desire besides being a hero (note, this does not always equate with saving lives). He often uses minor illusion to replicate the voices of his dead neighbors encouraging him and driving him forward to glory. His alignment is Chaotic Good, but a Wish spell used to cure his insanity changes it to Chaotic Evil.
Hawk was created 7 years ago by Dwarves to help guard their new mountain home. He was one of a generation of 36 Warforged created by Dwarven craftsmen for the mountain city of Cragholm. After spending 2 years in training, Hawk was given the rank of Sergeant and attached to a patrol unit near the outskirts of the city. The patrol included 3 other Warforged from his generation and around a dozen dwarves. Most of the dwarves treated the Warforged well enough, but some saw them as a waste of aether.
1 year ago, Cragholm was attacked by a large contingent of fell beasts who's masters were hunting for more aether. Hawk and others managed to push back most of the beasts, but only Hawk, Sprint (warforged scout), and two dwarves survived. Then the Aether Hunters arrived. Hawk broke away and ran in fear. The beasts he could handle, but the Hunters... they were something different.
Kaz was a vedalken training in the ways of gunsmithing, was about to finish her training and conplete the rite of passage that was creating her thunder breaker(I think that's what the gun is called). She was required to procure some aether in order to finish it, and her master, a powerful gunsmith and warpmage, attempted to get some for her. Unfortunately, the sample he obtained had been corrupted, the essence of a demon being mixed into it in the unpredictable act of summoning. When Kaz touched it, the essence entered her, corrupting her. Her skin bubbled and twisted as it took on a reddish color that mixed with her blue skin, giving it a strange purplish color. Horns sprouted from her skull, and wings erupted from her back. Then there was darkness. When she woke up her madter was slaughtered, and she wasn't no longer herself. Then a voice whispered in Herve ear. "You and I are going to be great friends..."
Kyoka Thiannôn, is a half-elf Blood Hunter. As the second and rather less adored child coming from a adventurous human ambassador, Kyoka was stashed away to become a guild artisan while her older sister got to be the one trained in the magical world of wizardry. Her father found out only some time later that she, following her own interests and intent to upset him, chosen to enlist as a metal and weapon smith, an unladylike profession he deemed unsuitable, but it was not in his power to revert his daughters choice. He thus began to spend even less time on her, a welcome surprise that gave her a nearly overwhelming amount of unconsumed time. Time that she could spent to fullfil the duties of her apprenticeship, and after a while it became obvious that Kyoka was quite good at her artisanry, and to fill up the empty evenings after work, she decided to train herself in the use of what she had created with her own hands. She began crafting more exotic pieces and began training more exotic styles with them, until she stumbled into some sort of a hidden section in the guilds library that contained knowledge of things she had never heard before. It was at that time, that a mysterious evil began attacking women of all races close to her district. While she normally should have been quite scared, Kyoka ,was on the contrary, very much excited to put all her years of training to test, and decided to be both bait and huntress of the unknown threat. It was just a little too late when she noticed that she was in over her head when the saw the thing attacking her, but with inexplicable luck rather than actual skill she managed to survive and take down what she later discovered to be one of the Fallen, a Blood Hunter deteriorated by his own powers. But the incident gave her a new direction, something she wanted to achieve, and the new powers she had found gave Kyoka the ability to protect others and rid the world from evil, rather than always delving in the fusty air of the guilds smithery.
A gnome raised very much in the tradition of tinkerers and inventors, she grew up under the auspice of her celebrated aunt, Roslyn Honeysapper, reknown for technical work that advanced the fields of hydro-mechanika and discovering new uses of aether through creative application in artificial conditions. Her designs were installed into the mechanikal wonder that is the city of Aetna, reducing energy needs for the Cogs and granting more sustainable power to the vast engines beneath the city streets. The Reverend Honeysapper disappeared several years ago, after arranging an expedition into the Crooked Spine, the mountain range from which Aetna originated, to recover lost artifacts dear to the dwarves and gnomes.
It was in the shadow of that great hero that Nicolette was given the finest education and as she grew, so too did expectations of what she would have to offer. Desperation and hubris had reduced the patience of Reverends and Professors, however, and when she had not managed her own grand discover or invention by her 18th year, she was written off as an average talent, released from the University and forgotten.
Unable to find menial work, Nicolette pledged herself as an acolyte to the Temples of the Twins. The gnomish gods of Eashygg and Yheena were venerated by gnomish tinkerers, artificers, alchemists, smiths, and other creators. To encourage innovation, rather than a single Temple, the followers were spread throughout the city in small cloisters that competed for the prestige of being 'First Temple'.
For the past year, Nicolette has been toiling under the supervision of Reverend Vashi Glittersalt. Already quite skilled in crafting mundane items, her interests lay in finding alternative means to leverage energy and generate power. Vashi demanded most of her time with completing the tedious tasks that streamlined his own design process and discouraged her from her own creativity. But Nicolette chaffed under Easygg's watchful eye, feeling the touch of Yheena within and she would find opportunities to experiment, usually ending in (calamitous) failure.
Undaunted, even by Vashi's angry and belittling admonishments, she reasoned that there was a time when Aunt Roslyn was unknown to the world, merely an explorer desiring to hold secrets. Let the University think she had nothing to offer. Let Reverend Glittersalt scream until he asphyxiated on his anger. She would make her mark.
Well met, fellow adventurer, and welcome to the Dominion of Iron!
A primal barbarian roars a battle cry as he scatters the orc horde with a mighty swing of his greataxe as the gritty gunslinger unloads a shower of lead. An arcane wizard makes strange motions with his hands and mutters the incantation to a spell, while the cunning artificer winds up her clockwork mouse and attaches a detonation device.
The Dominion of Iron is a decimated waste. Monsters lurk in the ruins of once-majestic cities, and fell hordes march under a distant sun and a cold moon. The Twelve Cities of Steam are the last remnants of a shattered continent. These cities have adapted to the post-apocalyptic conditions by erecting strong fortifications through a combination of metal and magic and establishing strong armies. The cities utilize unique features such as tank treads and magical mist in order to escape the notice of wandering hordes which frequently gather under a warlords banner to wreak havoc and ruin.
The Dominion of Iron is a world of magic and technology, firearms and swords, steam-powered machines and hulking beasts. The earth is overrun by monstrous hordes and the survivors of the apocalypse take refuge in cities ranging in location from the clouds to the seas.
The History of The Dominion
When Aether was first discovered existing in interdimensional planes by warpmages, the old nations abandoned the age-old Alliance of Iron in their efforts to obtain the precious resource. Aether is a resource capable of increasing the destructive capabilities of gunpowder, increasing the defensive capabilities of armor, and giving sentience to constructs. It is also a key component in the legendary Elixir of Life.
The act of Summoning requires that a warpmage open an interdimensional gateway between planes for the purpose of summoning Aether. But Summoning is unpredictable, and rather than Aether a warpmage might find an extraplanar monster has been caught in the wormhole, unleashing ruin upon the mortal plane. When the nations learnt of the consequences of their greed they declared Summoning a criminal offense punishable by death. Driven by desperation a mass genocide ensued, and thousands of innocent warpmages were slaughtered.
But the Dominion of Iron was blind to the writing on the wall. Damned hordes and fell behemoths laid waste to the continent, leveling settlements and leaving red ruin in their wake. Most of the old nations were forced to take their magnificent cities to the sea, air, and underground to survive, a feat accomplished by a combination of magic and technology. Those nations that remained on the surface recognized their eminent doom and forged wheels or legs to mobilize at the first sign of danger.
This time is known as the Apocalypse, and it marked a new chapter in the book of The Dominion of Iron. Intrepid adventurers, grim warriors, and valiant spellcasters utilize technology, magic, and iron in the battle for survival and the war to reclaim a shattered world.
Whether you wield the arcane forces of magic, delve in the intricate art of the machine, strike down your foes with the blade, or fill them full of lead, glory and plunder are yours for the taking.
THE TWELVE CITIES OF STEAM
Aetna: A city built on massive tank treads. Populated by weaponsmiths and metalworkers such as dwarves and gnomes.
Agartha: Located underground and fortified by solid stone walls. Populated mainly by races adapted to a world without sunlight, such as duergar and drow.
Asgard: Located in the frigid northern tundra. Populated mainly by races adapted to the cold conditions, such as goliaths and dwarves.
Atlantis: Located underwater, surrounded by an oxygenated titanium bubble. Populated mainly by aquatic races, such as tritons and sea elves.
Aztlan: Located on the edges of the Infinite Jungle, a city where dinosaurs and technology coexist. Populated mainly by dinosaurs, elves, and humans.
Camelot: Located on an island and hidden in mist. Populated mainly by knights and nobles.
El Dorado: The mythical City of Gold, located in a vast lake deep within the Infinite Jungle. Populated mainly by exotic races, such as tabaxi.
Hawaiki:
Olympus: Located on a cloud reinforced with magic and iron. Populated mainly by celestials and races adapted to the thin air, such as aasimar and aaracrokra.
Penglai:
Themyscira:
Yamato: Located on a floating mountain, culture similar to that of feudal Japan. Populated by dragonborn, elves, and samurai.
THE VERDANT LANDS
The Infinite Jungle:
The Sylvan Dominion: A grim wilderness beyond the protection of civilization populated by monsters and barbarian tribes. Wild elves and their druid allies opposed the Iron Revolution and held close to the old ways. They believe that the Cities of Steam are not a salvation but remnants of the disease.
OTHER POWERS
The Spider: A city which walks on eight legs (hence the name) and serves as a refuge for smugglers, criminals, assassins, and thugs. The city is essentially a corrupt underworld, dominated by underworld guilds and crime lords. It is not regarded as one of the Twelve Cities.
The Nine Cities of the Iron Dominion (Updated): Atlantis, the drowned city, Agartha, the fallen city, Asgard, the city of winter, Aetna, the city of the forge, Aztlan, the city of dinosaurs, Camelot, the city of knights, El Dorado, the city of gold, Olympus, the city of the clouds, and Yamato, the jade city.
(@JaydeMoon, could you replace the cities in your last post with these?)
Do you want me to replace them? So there was never the 13 Nations, it was always the 9 Cities?
It could be interesting if ti was 13 Nations, but now it's 9 cities. 4 Nations have been destroyed (or have they, dun dun duuuuun!) and the 9 Cities are all that are left of the remaining Nations.
Magmus --> Destroyed
Celestia --> Olympus
Atlantis --> Atlantis
Understone --> Aetna
El Dorado --> El Dorado <-- The Infinite Jungle (The original city of El Dorado existed in the Infinite Jungle, not so much a kingdom but a mostly allied group of races)
Clockwork --> Destroyed, Gnomes joined the Dwarves of Understone in Aetna.
The Spider --> Agartha
The Sylvan Dominion --> Camelot (much of Arthurian legend has a definite Fae aspect to it's mythology)
More to Come:
Varglund --> Asgard
The Jade Empire --> Yamato (alternately, Shin-Yamato and it could be an amalgamation of Chinese and Japanese aesthetics. Shin means Heart, the city being the heart of the empire or something)
Infinite Jungle --> Aztlan (Might I recommend a name change to Azta, Aztlan is directly the name of the Aztec-based nation that was Mexico in Shadowrun)
Main Human Nations, two or three empires, of which only one remains? Our party doesn't have humans and with so many 'nations' of non-humans, it feels like humans aren't the majority on this world anymore... most of the great human empires being crushed in the apocalypse could explain this.
All of this is spitballing. If any of it sounds good to you, great, but I am totally unattached and if you have definite thoughts about something and an idea i put forth doesn't fit, then it doesn't fit. I don't know how much of your worldbuilding you've already got 'down' and how much input you are looking for. I am a writer, so my brain is always finding these connections and building ideas for where something could go and if you give me an opening to vomit them into text, I'm going to.
So, as long as you want ideas to take or leave as you like, I'll throw them your way. I'll also stop if it gets to be too much.
Aztlan is the name of a legendary city in Aztec mythology. As you can probably tell by now all of the names of the cities are derived from mythology.
Agartha = Understone. (Agartha is a legendary city said to exist in the center of the earth by many religious doctrines.)
One of the titles of Yamato is 'The Jade City'.
The Sylvan Dominion still exists in opposition to the invading monsters, but it is not considered one of the Nine Cities. It is a nation of elves and druids who opposed the Iron Revolution and prefer to retain the old ways.
I was considering the 'Thirteen Nations only Nine survived ' idea myself, but if we are going to do that I would like to rename the four demolished nations after mythological locations, just like the other nine. Or, even better, I could add Themyscira, Hawaiki, and Penglai to the list of cities, making it twelve instead of nine, and create the 'fallen city' of Scholomance. (In fact I have a little story going about how Scholomance was responsible for the fall of the other nations by making a pact with the monsters, letting them enter the continent in return for protection and Aether. In the end the monsters turned on the nation and Scholomance was demolished.)
That would add Themyscira (Greek mythology), Hawaiki (Polynesian mythology), and Penglai (Chinese mythology) to the list.
The Sylvan Dominion --> Where Scholomance once was.
-----------------
Atlantis is Atlantis.
In the time of Camelot, the UK was Britannia.
Olympus in Celestia, got it.
So Aztlan is the less densely jungled portion of Central America and El Dorado was anywhere from Mexico to Peru and Brazil, so sticking with the whole Infinite Jungle idea? They get two surviving cities that are very different from eachother (ironically the less exotically named El Dorado would have the more exotic inhabitants)
Looking up Aetna, she's actually a Goddess/Nymph under whom Enkelados was buried and his restlessness gave way to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.... so I put it as being from Magmus and we'll call that a sort of home of the dwarves, before? The idea of dwarves being in a mountain that suffers regular seismic activity is an interesting concept, we never really think of what happens to deep mountain dwellers when there' an earthquake.
So, Asgard was tough... I wanted to go with Asgard as the Empire and then... what? Valhalla as the City? Pretty pretentious... but then again, if their land just ragnaroked, then the surviving crusaders might very well be the einrajar in Valhalla. But... I toned it back and went Asgard as the 'capital' of the '9 Kingdoms', based off of the 9 worlds, you know, Asgard, Midguard, Jotenheim, etc. Not an empire, per se, but 9 loosely affiliated nations that were probably fighting amongst themselves mostly, but might unite under a common banner against an enemy, like the vikings would do.
Ōyashima is an old, unused fantastical name for Japan, and Yamato a city within, so that was plenty easy.
Understone is Agartha, got it.
Now, the other ones:
Clockwork and the Spider sound like Gnomish and Drow city/kingdoms to me. The gnomes scavenging their city to help mobilize Aetna feels like a neat bit of history and fits with the idea of Gnomes and Dwarves being correlated. The idea of the overly proud drow abandoning their city and having to shack up with Duergar is a very interesting twist on that dynamic.
Of course, Hawaiki, Themyscira, and Penglai are dust.
Now, your story about Scholomance... Scholomance is Romanian, which puts it in proximity to Britannia and Scandinavia (aka the 9 Kingdoms)... From Romania west you have Bavaria, which is a pretty Sylvan kind of place if you've been... So Scholomance being the 'source' and being destroyed, the sylvan beings of the forests of those lands would have had front row tickets to 'Why the shit you are doing is bad' show... so those being the most fired up to band together and create a Sylvan Dominion makes sense... it's like that puzzle wanted to fit together like that.
OK, so thoughts?
Also, I added your last note in the private chat... but it says... twelve cities of steam...?
In this world, nations and borders no longer exist. The world is one decimated waste, save for the Infinite Jungle (kudos for the idea) and the Sylvan Dominion. With a few exceptions (El Dorado, Atlantis, and Aztlan, among others), the cities are constantly on the move, making borders and territories a hinderance. I also think we can play with Scholomance a little and create a ghost city.
I think we should establish Themyscira, Hawaiki, and Penglai as surviving cities, bumping up the number from 9 to 12.
Scrap Magnus and Clockwork.
The Spider is a city which walks on eight legs (hence the name) and serves as a refuge for smugglers, criminals, assassins, and thugs. The city is essentialy a corrupt underworld, dominated by underworld guilds and crime lords. It is not regarded as one of the Twelve Cities.
Mount Aetna is the name of Vulcan's forge, the Roman god of the smithy.
Got it. The empires/nations thing was more delving into history. For Camelot, obviously Britannia no longer exists and Camelot is not confined to the former boundaries of Britannia, but when one asks, 'Before the apocalypse, where did Camelot rest?' The answer could then be Britannia. Leads in to potential 'archaeological' adventures and/or discoveries.
For now, the names of the current cities are most important, so a little rewording and then putting the cities in a list below. Take a look and thumbs up if it's right!
A thread for members of the Iron Dominion campaign to brainstorm, introduce, and discuss ideas for the world of the Iron Dominion.
Flayr Flameseeker | Genasi/Fire | Wizard/School of Evocation | Level 2 | Custom Campaign: Cold Cash
I'm going to roll up everyone's posted character information in this reply, even though it's not specific to the world building aspect, we'll definitely be building the world as these characters explore it, so that's legitimate, IMO.
Barosh Savendown (played by Persuasion)
Barosh was only a child when he found the corpses of his parents, torn to shreds by a wolf pack. After a year, he seemed to have finally recovered from his trauma, but the tragedy broke him in ways that would never heal. He was unable to empathize and only saw the world in shades of black and white, good and bad. When his village captured a few unaware bandits, he was found torturing them to death with fire. When he was confronted by his friends and remaining family, he burned them all to ash. Within the hour, every single one of Barosh's neighbors was little more than char and cinders. Barosh stayed in his empty village, for he had nowhere else to go. He utilized his innate spellcasting to help him with farming as well as to alleviate his solitude.
Eventually, the sounds he created began to speak to him of glory, of destined heroism. Barosh locked himself away under the façade of a hero. He believed himself in every way to be destined to save the world, and nothing was going to get in his way. Leaving behind his charred ruin of a home and the corpses that he subconsciously blocked from his sight, he began his journey to achieve his "promised" destiny.
Barosh truly believes himself a hero, but his darker side occasionally comes out in combat and interrogations. Most of the time he exudes a slightly clumsy, unassuming presence with no other desire besides being a hero (note, this does not always equate with saving lives). He often uses minor illusion to replicate the voices of his dead neighbors encouraging him and driving him forward to glory. His alignment is Chaotic Good, but a Wish spell used to cure his insanity changes it to Chaotic Evil.
Hawk (played by f1ves)
Hawk was created 7 years ago by Dwarves to help guard their new mountain home. He was one of a generation of 36 Warforged created by Dwarven craftsmen for the mountain city of Cragholm. After spending 2 years in training, Hawk was given the rank of Sergeant and attached to a patrol unit near the outskirts of the city. The patrol included 3 other Warforged from his generation and around a dozen dwarves. Most of the dwarves treated the Warforged well enough, but some saw them as a waste of aether.
1 year ago, Cragholm was attacked by a large contingent of fell beasts who's masters were hunting for more aether. Hawk and others managed to push back most of the beasts, but only Hawk, Sprint (warforged scout), and two dwarves survived. Then the Aether Hunters arrived. Hawk broke away and ran in fear. The beasts he could handle, but the Hunters... they were something different.
Kazeen (played by WoobyDoobyDoo)
Kaz was a vedalken training in the ways of gunsmithing, was about to finish her training and conplete the rite of passage that was creating her thunder breaker(I think that's what the gun is called). She was required to procure some aether in order to finish it, and her master, a powerful gunsmith and warpmage, attempted to get some for her. Unfortunately, the sample he obtained had been corrupted, the essence of a demon being mixed into it in the unpredictable act of summoning. When Kaz touched it, the essence entered her, corrupting her. Her skin bubbled and twisted as it took on a reddish color that mixed with her blue skin, giving it a strange purplish color. Horns sprouted from her skull, and wings erupted from her back. Then there was darkness. When she woke up her madter was slaughtered, and she wasn't no longer herself. Then a voice whispered in Herve ear. "You and I are going to be great friends..."
Kyoka Thiannôn (played by Vyriox)
Kyoka Thiannôn, is a half-elf Blood Hunter. As the second and rather less adored child coming from a adventurous human ambassador, Kyoka was stashed away to become a guild artisan while her older sister got to be the one trained in the magical world of wizardry. Her father found out only some time later that she, following her own interests and intent to upset him, chosen to enlist as a metal and weapon smith, an unladylike profession he deemed unsuitable, but it was not in his power to revert his daughters choice. He thus began to spend even less time on her, a welcome surprise that gave her a nearly overwhelming amount of unconsumed time. Time that she could spent to fullfil the duties of her apprenticeship, and after a while it became obvious that Kyoka was quite good at her artisanry, and to fill up the empty evenings after work, she decided to train herself in the use of what she had created with her own hands. She began crafting more exotic pieces and began training more exotic styles with them, until she stumbled into some sort of a hidden section in the guilds library that contained knowledge of things she had never heard before. It was at that time, that a mysterious evil began attacking women of all races close to her district. While she normally should have been quite scared, Kyoka ,was on the contrary, very much excited to put all her years of training to test, and decided to be both bait and huntress of the unknown threat. It was just a little too late when she noticed that she was in over her head when the saw the thing attacking her, but with inexplicable luck rather than actual skill she managed to survive and take down what she later discovered to be one of the Fallen, a Blood Hunter deteriorated by his own powers. But the incident gave her a new direction, something she wanted to achieve, and the new powers she had found gave Kyoka the ability to protect others and rid the world from evil, rather than always delving in the fusty air of the guilds smithery.
Nicolette Honeysapper (played by JaydeMoon)
A gnome raised very much in the tradition of tinkerers and inventors, she grew up under the auspice of her celebrated aunt, Roslyn Honeysapper, reknown for technical work that advanced the fields of hydro-mechanika and discovering new uses of aether through creative application in artificial conditions. Her designs were installed into the mechanikal wonder that is the city of Aetna, reducing energy needs for the Cogs and granting more sustainable power to the vast engines beneath the city streets. The Reverend Honeysapper disappeared several years ago, after arranging an expedition into the Crooked Spine, the mountain range from which Aetna originated, to recover lost artifacts dear to the dwarves and gnomes.
It was in the shadow of that great hero that Nicolette was given the finest education and as she grew, so too did expectations of what she would have to offer. Desperation and hubris had reduced the patience of Reverends and Professors, however, and when she had not managed her own grand discover or invention by her 18th year, she was written off as an average talent, released from the University and forgotten.
Unable to find menial work, Nicolette pledged herself as an acolyte to the Temples of the Twins. The gnomish gods of Eashygg and Yheena were venerated by gnomish tinkerers, artificers, alchemists, smiths, and other creators. To encourage innovation, rather than a single Temple, the followers were spread throughout the city in small cloisters that competed for the prestige of being 'First Temple'.
For the past year, Nicolette has been toiling under the supervision of Reverend Vashi Glittersalt. Already quite skilled in crafting mundane items, her interests lay in finding alternative means to leverage energy and generate power. Vashi demanded most of her time with completing the tedious tasks that streamlined his own design process and discouraged her from her own creativity. But Nicolette chaffed under Easygg's watchful eye, feeling the touch of Yheena within and she would find opportunities to experiment, usually ending in (calamitous) failure.
Undaunted, even by Vashi's angry and belittling admonishments, she reasoned that there was a time when Aunt Roslyn was unknown to the world, merely an explorer desiring to hold secrets. Let the University think she had nothing to offer. Let Reverend Glittersalt scream until he asphyxiated on his anger. She would make her mark.
Reposting JJ's original DOI pitch
The Nine Cities of the Iron Dominion (Updated): Atlantis, the drowned city, Agartha, the fallen city, Asgard, the city of winter, Aetna, the city of the forge, Aztlan, the city of dinosaurs, Camelot, the city of knights, El Dorado, the city of gold, Olympus, the city of the clouds, and Yamato, the jade city.
(@JaydeMoon, could you replace the cities in your last post with these?)
Flayr Flameseeker | Genasi/Fire | Wizard/School of Evocation | Level 2 | Custom Campaign: Cold Cash
Do you want me to replace them? So there was never the 13 Nations, it was always the 9 Cities?
It could be interesting if ti was 13 Nations, but now it's 9 cities. 4 Nations have been destroyed (or have they, dun dun duuuuun!) and the 9 Cities are all that are left of the remaining Nations.
Magmus --> Destroyed
Celestia --> Olympus
Atlantis --> Atlantis
Understone --> Aetna
El Dorado --> El Dorado <-- The Infinite Jungle (The original city of El Dorado existed in the Infinite Jungle, not so much a kingdom but a mostly allied group of races)
Clockwork --> Destroyed, Gnomes joined the Dwarves of Understone in Aetna.
The Spider --> Agartha
The Sylvan Dominion --> Camelot (much of Arthurian legend has a definite Fae aspect to it's mythology)
More to Come:
Varglund --> Asgard
The Jade Empire --> Yamato (alternately, Shin-Yamato and it could be an amalgamation of Chinese and Japanese aesthetics. Shin means Heart, the city being the heart of the empire or something)
Infinite Jungle --> Aztlan (Might I recommend a name change to Azta, Aztlan is directly the name of the Aztec-based nation that was Mexico in Shadowrun)
Main Human Nations, two or three empires, of which only one remains? Our party doesn't have humans and with so many 'nations' of non-humans, it feels like humans aren't the majority on this world anymore... most of the great human empires being crushed in the apocalypse could explain this.
All of this is spitballing. If any of it sounds good to you, great, but I am totally unattached and if you have definite thoughts about something and an idea i put forth doesn't fit, then it doesn't fit. I don't know how much of your worldbuilding you've already got 'down' and how much input you are looking for. I am a writer, so my brain is always finding these connections and building ideas for where something could go and if you give me an opening to vomit them into text, I'm going to.
So, as long as you want ideas to take or leave as you like, I'll throw them your way. I'll also stop if it gets to be too much.
Awesome, I just have a few modifications to make.
Aztlan is the name of a legendary city in Aztec mythology. As you can probably tell by now all of the names of the cities are derived from mythology.
Agartha = Understone. (Agartha is a legendary city said to exist in the center of the earth by many religious doctrines.)
One of the titles of Yamato is 'The Jade City'.
The Sylvan Dominion still exists in opposition to the invading monsters, but it is not considered one of the Nine Cities. It is a nation of elves and druids who opposed the Iron Revolution and prefer to retain the old ways.
I was considering the 'Thirteen Nations only Nine survived ' idea myself, but if we are going to do that I would like to rename the four demolished nations after mythological locations, just like the other nine. Or, even better, I could add Themyscira, Hawaiki, and Penglai to the list of cities, making it twelve instead of nine, and create the 'fallen city' of Scholomance. (In fact I have a little story going about how Scholomance was responsible for the fall of the other nations by making a pact with the monsters, letting them enter the continent in return for protection and Aether. In the end the monsters turned on the nation and Scholomance was demolished.)
That would add Themyscira (Greek mythology), Hawaiki (Polynesian mythology), and Penglai (Chinese mythology) to the list.
Flayr Flameseeker | Genasi/Fire | Wizard/School of Evocation | Level 2 | Custom Campaign: Cold Cash
OK, here we go.
In this world, nations and borders no longer exist. The world is one decimated waste, save for the Infinite Jungle (kudos for the idea) and the Sylvan Dominion. With a few exceptions (El Dorado, Atlantis, and Aztlan, among others), the cities are constantly on the move, making borders and territories a hinderance. I also think we can play with Scholomance a little and create a ghost city.
I think we should establish Themyscira, Hawaiki, and Penglai as surviving cities, bumping up the number from 9 to 12.
Scrap Magnus and Clockwork.
The Spider is a city which walks on eight legs (hence the name) and serves as a refuge for smugglers, criminals, assassins, and thugs. The city is essentialy a corrupt underworld, dominated by underworld guilds and crime lords. It is not regarded as one of the Twelve Cities.
Mount Aetna is the name of Vulcan's forge, the Roman god of the smithy.
Comments, complaints, concerns?
Flayr Flameseeker | Genasi/Fire | Wizard/School of Evocation | Level 2 | Custom Campaign: Cold Cash
Got it. The empires/nations thing was more delving into history. For Camelot, obviously Britannia no longer exists and Camelot is not confined to the former boundaries of Britannia, but when one asks, 'Before the apocalypse, where did Camelot rest?' The answer could then be Britannia. Leads in to potential 'archaeological' adventures and/or discoveries.
For now, the names of the current cities are most important, so a little rewording and then putting the cities in a list below. Take a look and thumbs up if it's right!
BTW, I like what you did with Spider.
Great! I appreciate all of the effort you are putting into this.
Flayr Flameseeker | Genasi/Fire | Wizard/School of Evocation | Level 2 | Custom Campaign: Cold Cash
The Twelve Cities of Steam
This is a work in progress. I'll be posting info and lore about each city as often as possible.
Flayr Flameseeker | Genasi/Fire | Wizard/School of Evocation | Level 2 | Custom Campaign: Cold Cash
BTW I totally rewrote Kaz's backstory to be an alchemist, so I'm gonna put that here later.
"Ignorance is bliss, and you look absolutely miserable."