A New Dawn: Reimagining the Northern Isle of Dawn setting
by HåvardMy current campaign is set on the Isle of Dawn. I'm expanding and revising this setting a bit for the campaign. There will be some departures from canon, but mainly I will be filling out blanks that were not covered by M5 Talons of Night, Dawn of the Emperors, the Almanac Series or other published material. My campaign is set several years after the end of WotI, so changes will also reflect that.
Here are a few elements I that I consider key to my version of this setting:
Legacy of Giants
I will be making use of James Mishler's History of the Isle of Dawn, where it was revealed that the Isle of Dawn region was once the center of the Giant Kingdom of Gandhar. Remnants of this history in the current setting is going to manifest in a few different ways:
- Gigantic structures, ruins and statues can still be found scattered across the island.
- There are still giants living in the wilds, though they are but a shade of their former glory. Most are Stone Giants. The Stone Giants in the northern part of the island are more traditional in appearance than their southern Henakoi cousins.
- Grangeri are found wandering the swamps and moors. Some are domesticated by the giants.
The Dunael
While canon material talks mostly about Thyatians and Alphatians dominating the human population of the island, I am making much more room for the Dunael. With Alphatia gone and Thyatis weakened, the Dunael have risen into prominence. Their culture is valguely Celtic-inspired, but I'm making it more feudal rather than that of dark ages Celts. Druids have a central role in this culture, but less so around the urban centers. In rural areas, the population is making pacts with Fey creatures under the oversight of druids and rangers/foresters. I'm allowing Druidic Knights to exist here, but they are much less common than among the Robrenn.
Remnants of Alphatia and the Rise of New Empires
Alphatia is gone and most of the powerful wizards have disappeared or left. Some fled into the wilderness. Alphatian commoners (mostly of Cypri stock) still live in the coastal cities where they dominate trade and crafts. Magical items, laboratories and wizards towers are left behind by the Alphatians for adventurers to discover. The power vacuum left behind by the Alphatian Empre attracts new powers trying to fill that vaccuum. Thyatis is gradually regaining its strength and seeking conquest from the west. The Heldannic Knights are seeking to gain a holding on the east coast.
Cosmic Forces
I like how M5 introduced the Isle of Night and there will also be a Fey parallell to that realm. The Night Spider may eventually make its presence known. There are also various other Entropics plotting behind the scenes. I'd like to involve a number of Fairy Rings and gateways to the Feywood and to the Nightrealm (Limbo). Oberon is distant here, but Ardulla is one of the key players among Fey Royalty. Fey are not all good though as numerous Hags and other dark fey can be found, some even having power over certain druids.
Lesser Players
While the Empires and cosmic forces are working behind the scenes, the players will mostly be introduced to lesser factions and NPCs early on in the campaign. This includes local leaders, Orcs and Goblinoids, Mercenary Bands and Wizards who all seek power and may or may not be working for some of the major factions.
Realms
- Dunadale - TBD
- Helskir - TBD
- Westrourke - TBD
- Redstone - TBD
- East Portage - TBD
- West Portage - TBD
I will be tackling the southern part of the Isle of Dawn later on, but M5 already goes into quite a bit of detail on that and I think this is more suited for when the players reach higher levels. There is also the Caerdwicca fan gazetteer which I hope to make use of.