Images flicker: Moldering gems in skeletal hands; stone ruins ransacked, rebuilt, storm broken and resurgent.
Storm drowned lands, Mikpos wagering in Tavern Debina, goblin lairs in Kuopio’s sandstone ruins, Giants striding from a howling Maelstrom, adventurers sharing reconnaissance over wine, Kithkari stretching 8’ tall, stern Dvaerg dodging Rakshasha claws, a mail gauntlet grabbing a verdigris helmet, magenta rain rebounding from golden light, elegant silver Mikpos nails clutching a copper stylus, shadows spilling from a cracked Iron door, a pair of savage hobgoblins circle with bronze headed axes, a Kithkari calf boiling blood into ironjaw wolf trap, lifting an ancient skull clad in gold runic mask remnants, Tyhlos the White breathing icy frost at a leaping Vikari warrior, a mail clad giant strides through swirling and eerie mists of limbo, firelight glimmers through a storm cracked tower, barbarous Lizardmen feasting on long pig, iridescent plants floating in a candy yellow river that flows uphill, grand Mount Rättvik melted by a Chaos storm, iron and copper exposed and gleaming; heroes returning to Redewall laden with antiquities.
A scene: A cunning Vikari warrior pauses in the deep shadow of Mount Nijmegen’s iron topped peak, living bow taut in his left hand, darkwood arrow nocked. The breeze shifts, blowing from the purple bruise of cloud ahead, carrying the scuffing sound of claws on worn basalt, ascending the narrow trail. From behind, Gwendolyn Goodge calls out in a voice tinged with nerves and laughter, “Orm, are you posing or…” but her voice quiets at his gesture. Janssen marches forward, joining the pair in the rattle of chain, loud in the sudden still.
Janssen’s bushy eyes raise in silent question. Orm’s answer to the implied question is low, “Two threats.” A gesture at his feet, showing scuffed trail dust and a patched boot mark, “Goblins, a day old, maybe. Heavy mark; not furtive, they’re probably lairing nearby — Umeå’s ruins, at a guess. But… hear that?” Birdsong cut off sharp as Orm pivots smoothly, his arrow pointed at the claustrophobically close treeline. The acorn arrowhead caught the wolf in the shoulder as it burst from the brush; with a howl of chilling fury it raced forward, the wound shrinking in an eyeblink as it lunged towards the ranger.
At Gwendolyn’s incanted gesture, the beast was thrown sideways; reeling from the spell’s force its claws scrabbled across the bare rock, then cartwheeled into the underbrush and vanished. The trio scanned the trees, ready for the renewed assault… but answering howls downtrail underscored their poor position. Janssen’s stubby finger stabbed out at the streaked sky. “Chaos storm hits in under an hour; we get clear of the beasts and the storm’ll scour our trail.” The patter of stinging rain, burning like lye, pursued them as they reascended the stony trail. Behind them the undergrowth melted like cotton candy in the acrid rain…
Setting Overview
Redewall is balanced at the western edge of Civilized World of today – but seven empires, most long fallen, bestrode the chaos wracked lands to the west.
Storms of Chaos sweep from World’s End in the extreme west, changing the very stone and soil where their transformative rains fall and mists drape. When the mist clears, wonders and beasts from elsewhere are often stranded in the storm’s wake.
Redewall serves as a base camp for explorers of wild Ludmerea. A few hundred townsfolk support a local garrison that defends the civilized kingdoms of the east from Chaos Peoples, their warbands… and stranger things stranded by Chaos Storms.
The small town also supports a mix of peoples unlike any other in the world – dreamers of great fortune rub shoulders with practical “exploration companies” that methodically probe the plains, sifting the wreckage of fallen empires for powerful artifacts and odd commonplaces of previous days. Idle soldiers swill beer alongside loremasters, antiquarians, and factors for the great merchant Bank of Aglaia and the many political houses of Civilization. The small powers of eastern Ludmerea fence with agents of the Winter Kingdoms and distant Zakynthos, all keeping an eye on the adventuring bands that journey into the wildlands and return with wonders of ancient days and beguiling baubles of Chaos – tiny ripples at the edge of the civilized world that can shake even the Kingdom of Rogaland, or the bustling metropolis of Cratais.
Scholarly researchers seek famed artifacts and chaos imbued reagents to enhance their research – or ancient spell formulae they can rediscover or “invent” for prestige. Grifters, conmen, and petty thieves seek to redistribute fortunes from those who brave the wastelands.
While many civilized people sneer at the wildlands, many kingdoms- even empires- have arisen from those monstrous peoples. Wave after wave of Chaos sweeping the land has deposited countless humanoids- some appearing a dozen years ago after a Chaos Storm stranded them, while others have bred in the swamps and pristine mountains for millennia – ever since Ludmerea was anchored into existence by the Worldloom that the ancient Vikari used to pattern Chaos into today’s known but ever changing lands.
Races of Ludmerea
The five civilized races who call Ludmerea home are the Vikari, Kithkari, Mikpos, Dvaerg, and Muhner. From a great distance, they can be described so:
Vikari are Elves with a viking flair. Play a Vikari if you want to be a character from a long lived and patient people with a cruel past.
Kithkari are renowned as cunning pranksters, savage shapeshifters when their back is to a wall. Play a Kithkari if you want to play an heir to wild magic, with inherent size shifting as only the most notable trait of a very unusual people.
Miklos are urbane halflings, the first to write and early masters of trade. Today they’re best known as bankers, confidence artists, and wizards — but always trendsetters.
Daverg are dwarves, with a history of respected rulers and breakthroughs in metallurgy and storm breaking. Play a Daverg to come from a dependable, respected people known for their strength and wisdom.
Muhner are humans, able to commit to specialization early in life with an intensity that no other race can match. Thanedoms founded by Muhner lie shattered in Ludmerea’s west; today most Muhner in Ludmerea rove in kin groups.
