I love reverse-engineering a world using principles gleaned from a close reading of sparse material.
Just a head's up: there are PDFs available of this online for those who search; here is the official PDF and product write-up
Here's my info-gathering and sussing out of principles:
The World of Dragon's Den
by Travis Henry(In at least two places in the books, there's no definite article, just "Dragon's Den".)
The Independent Nation and Kingdom of Greetland:
- (Grand Duchy > Kingdom of Karameikos = (Kingdom of) Greetland ("an independent nation ruled by King Ganyard II")("Greetland" is a real-world village in West Yorkshire. The name means "gravelly/rocky land"
- There are other Yorkshire references (e.g. Wortley), so clearly Ken Rolston was looking at a map of Yorkshire, or had just vacationed in Yorkshire or something.)
- Grand Duke Stefan Karameikos III = King Ganyard II
- Luln = Knacker Knob
- Korisegy Keep = Dyne Keep
- Radlebb Keep = Lavalin Keep
- Achelos River = Iron River. In both worlds, the easternmost tributary carries the primary name of the river as a whole.
- Riverfork Keep = Dallow Keep
- Riverfork Woods (west of river) = Iron Wood
- Riverfork Woods (east of river) = Forest of Dallow
- Cruth Lowlands = Seatstone Highlands. Comparing the location of the Achelos/Iron river forks, the Seatstone Highlands appear to be equivalent to the hills of the Cruth Lowlands, rather than equivalent to the Black Peak Mountains. Though, given how the map ends at the north, the hills and mountains may be merged.
- Townmistress Sascia of Luln = Bailiff Wortley, Alderman of Knacker Knob. (It's not clear whether he holds two titles: "bailiff" and "alderman"; or whether "Bailiff" is his first name! The name "Wortley" is a village in Yorkshire, which is of Old English origin: wort (plant) + lea (meadow)
- Also note that in this world, there is a "Sascia" who is the "agent of Bailiff Wortley." Sascia is a Slavic name
- The Blight Swamp = The Great Swamp
- Gulf of Halland = Gulf of Halag. "Halland" is most well known as a traditional province of Sweden. Though there is a small village in southeastern England named Halland as well. "Halag" (the Mystaran name) is Old Saxon for "holy", and may be a fantastic alteration of the High German cognate "Heilig", given the German connexions of the Black Eagle.
- Westron Road = Westron Road. Sascia refers to "our Westron Road" on p.3 of the Wyrmhaven adventure. The only geographic feature in Greetland/Karameikos which has the same name in both worlds!
The Border Province of (the) West March ("the border province ruled by Draven"):
- the Black Eagle Barony = the West March; a.k.a. West March (without the "the")
- Baron Ludwig von Hendricks, "the Black Eagle" = March Lord Draven of Mylemain, the Black Prince. "Draven is a cousin of King Ganyard II." The name "Draven" is evocative of "raven" and "craven."
- Bargle the Infamous = Lord Gonzaga, envoy of the Black Prince. Similar to Bargle in the sense that he is the Black Eagle Baron's advisor. Though Gonzaga is not a Magic-User. The various RW places and schools named "Gonzaga" are usually named after the Italian Jesuit saint. He came from the Italian noble House of Gonzaga
- Fort Doom = Castle Kane (evocative of the "evil" name "Cain." Though the RW surname "Kane" has other origins.)
The Independent Nation of Waylay
- the Five Shires = Waylay ("an independent nation populated mostly by halflings") = the Five Shires
- Eastshire (Eastshire includes hilly terrain: the extension of the Cruth Lowlands) = the Kellshire Dales ("a hilly region of Waylay"; The name "Kellshire Dales" is evocative of the "Yorkshire Dales", but with the Irish placename "Kells" substituted, from the Book of Kells.)
- Rollstone Keep = Rollstone! This is only building/settlement whose name remains unchanged between the two worlds!!!
- the Coastfollow Road = the Coastfollow Road (mentioned on p.3 of Wyrmhaven adventure, but not shown on the map. See Mystara's map of the Five Shires for placement.
- the Wardle River Road (mentioned on p.3 of Wyrmhaven adventure. Presumably the same road on the Mystaran Five Shires map which runs along the Wardle River. There aren't any roads depicted on the map of Wayland though.
- the Wardle River = the Wardle River. Not depicted on the map, but mentioned in the name "Wardle River Road" on p.3 of Wyrmhaven adventure. See Mystara's map of the Five Shires for placement.)
Off the edge of the map:
- Mylemain (the titular birthplace of March Lord Draven) is a place equivalent to wherever the "von Hendricks" title came from in Mystara, in Hattias.
- Yarrow ("the capital city" of Greetland) = Specularum/Mirros. A place in Scotland near the border with England
New race(?):
- Otterkin (sapient talking giant otters)
Pre-Gen PC names (the iconic heroes of the World of DRAGON'S DEN):
#1. Grochek Hammerfist, Dwarf. The name "Grochek" sounds Slavic. Hammerfist is probably inspired by the LotR warrior of Rohan: Helm Hammerhand.
#2. Jared O'loria, Fighter. Jared is a Biblical Hebrew name. The prefix O' is Irish of course. Though the "'loria" part appears to be quasi-Latinate / Italianate. (e.g. gloria) Jared's face is obscured by the sketchy style of the illustration.
#3. Reverend Elin, Cleric. "Elin" is similar to Ellen. Her tabard features a five-pointed crown within a thirteen-pointed star. (If I counted right!) Elin appears to have a "Caucasian" cosmetic phenotype, with long, straight, light-colored hair.
#4. Ren Wardo, Magic-User. Ren appears to have a Black/African cosmetic phenotype. I couldn't find a definitive source of the names. Any ideas?
#5. Talina, Thief. She appears to have a Latina or Middle-Eastern cosmetic phenotype. The name is similar to Talia, a name of Aramaic origin. The suffix "-ina" is common in Italian, Latin, and Spanish
#6. Cara Windwright, Elf. The name "Cara" is Irish for friend, but there are also "Cara/Kara" names in many other languages. But the "Celtic" association of fantasy and elves, makes the Irish interpretation likely. Her surname means "wind-crafter."
#7. Sam Barleyman, Halfling. Of course named after Samwise Gamgee + Barliman Butterbur (the non-hobbit innkeeper of the Prancing Pony).
(Interesting terminological note: the Pre-Gens for the DRAGON'S DEN boardgame have a "Health Score" instead of hit points!)
I didn't have time to comb through the adventure texts. There are lots of other names (of monsters, pre-gens, etc), which could provide clues to the onomastic cultures of the World of the DRAGON'S DEN.
Here's a cut-and-paste from Vaults of Pandius:
Sharel the Elf-child: 10 year old Elf-child & prisoner to lizard men
Speckled-White-Chin: Otterkin 1 HD & prisoner to lizard men
Short-Whiskers: Otterkin 1 HD & prisoner to lizard men
Hakra: Black Dragon 5 HD
Hatchlings: 2 Black Dragon 1HD ea. no names
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Boslo: Halfling 1st level, trader
Nefastus: Green Dragon 6 HD
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Gorol/Dregdak: Thief 4th level/polymorphed into a bugbear
Baglips: 4 HD Orc
Gutrug: 4 HD Orc Cheiftan
Blain: Dwarf 1st level
Nithi: Dwarf 1st level
Vilbert: Magic-User 1st level
Mort: Hill Giant 6 HD
Haurarra: Harpy 3 HD
Luzgar: Orc Lord 5 HD
Anandak: Red Dragon 8 HD
There are Real World etymologies for some of these names, which could help fill out the cultures of the World of DRAGON'S DEN. A few quick notes:
- Nithi the dwarf may be named after Nithavellir, the world of the Dwarves in Norse mythology. Ken Rolston also wrote GAZ7 The Northern Reaches, so he knows about Norse mythology.
- Mort the hill giant - the name is short for Morton or Mortimer
- Vilbert is an alteration of "Wilbert", a Germanic name meaning "will-bright"
- The name Blain comes from the Scottish Saint Blane, from Gaelic meaning "yellow." But in this case, is also evocative of the Tolkienian/Norse Dwarf name "Dain."
- The orc names are quasi-Tolkienian Orkish.
- The halfling name "Boslo" may be a blend of "Boz" (after the famous U.S. musician, "Boz" Scags, whose nickname morphed from "Bosley" and "Boswell" and "Bosworth") + "Oslo" (the capital of Norway). "Bosworth" is of Old English origin
Chronology / Timeline / Calendar Era of the WORLD OF DRAGON'S DEN:
Though we may know almost nothing about the timeline of the WORLD OF DRAGON'S DEN, the depicted events would line up with the Mystaran timeline in RW 1992, which was the year AC1010 in Poor Wizards Almanac I.
Immortals of the WORLD OF DRAGON'S DEN:
- the "Churches of Greetland" (caps) is spoken of as if it is a unified entity, in regard to curing those who are afflicted with lycanthropy. (p.3 League of the Red Serpent). Would be this world's equivalent of the "Church of Karameikos."
- The patron Immortal of the evil Dragonscale clerics
- The Immortal whose symbol is seen on Reverend Elin's tabard: 5-pointed crown inside a 13-pointed star.
- The golden snake seen on Grochek Hammerfist's beltbuckle?
- Takhisis! Since she is depicted on the cover of the boxed set...the only product which depicts this World! Yeah, TSR "meant" for the cut-and-pasted image to be vaguely reminiscent of the three colored dragon bosses (black, green, red) which the party meets in the DRAGON'S DEN adventures. But...it is Takhisis from the cover of DL14: "Dragons of Triumph" (1986)! Appelcline's product history refers to those three boss dragons as "children" of Takhisis. She may or may not be called "Takhisis" in this world. She surely would not have been called "Takhisis" by TSR even if further DRAGON'S DEN products had been produced, because they kept the BD&D and AD&D lines separate due to Arneson royalty issues. Tiamat, a five-headed chromatic dragon of each color, was introduced in the Greyhawk supplement for 0E D&D in 1975; though she wasn't named Tiamat yet, just "The Chromatic Dragon" and "The Dragon Queen". In 1977 she was published in the 1E MM and has been there ever since. Tiamat did appear in the BD&D branded Cartoon Show. So her name in this world, may be "Tiamat" and/or "The Chromatic Dragon" and/or "The Dragon Queen." The last name matches the aesthetic of the "Dragon's Den" moniker. So, the Dragon Queen may be this world's equivalent of Mystara's Pearl, the Moon Dragon, Chaotic Immortal. They had to airbrush out or paint over Laurana's head!
- If I wanted to lean into the distinction between Mystara and the WORLD OF DRAGON'S DEN, I'd say that the Immortals of this world are the gods of Dragonlance! But statted out with Wrath of the Immortals stats (likewise published in 1992).
Cosmology of the WORLD OF DRAGON'S DEN:
- The Abyss from the DL cosmology, but re-named "Pyts" (as in WotI). The Dragon Queen's specific realm within Pyts could be called the "Temple of Pyts", based on her planar realm in DL cosmology, "The Temple of Neraka"; the word neraka means "hell" in RW Indonesian. But there's no "hell" in kid-oriented Basic D&D cosmology, since it's a cuss word, and since there's no LE alignment.
- Nithavellir, planar home of the dwarves. Based on the dwarf NPC name Nithi.
- A renamed genericized Dragonlance cosmology?
Other features?
- A "Ken Rolston"-centered D&D world?Since Ken Rolston authored GAZ2 Emirates of Ylaruam, GAZ7 Northern Reaches, and IM3 Best of Intentions, perhaps (???) these (or an altered version of these) are prominent in this world?
- Unlike Karameikos, other than the repeat of "Sascia" (Slavic), Greetland isn't Eastern European (Traladaran) flavored, nor Byzantine Greek/Latin (Thyatian) flavored.
- Unlike the Black Eagle Barony, the West March isn't German flavored.
A map of the WORLD OF DRAGON'S DEN:
How about the next map in Dr. Scotese's Time-Life paleo map series? Clearly, the worlds are similar, but even looking at the coast of Greetland / West March / Waylay, the coastline has morphed somewhat compared to Karameikos (Late Jurassic map). Which meshes with the next map in the series
...and I just discovered something "big" in regard to the iconic pre-gens, which I'll post in a separate post!!!