Our adventure begins in Lawton's Glen, but where it takes us will depend on your characters and interests. I have a lot of ideas for plots, villains, etc., but I'd like to tie them as closely as possible to the histories and objectives of your characters. So, I'm going to wait until characters our set before zeroing on these. And, of course, your own choices will ultimately determine what we explore and how.

The overview below and the posts that follow will help you determine what sort of character you'd like to play and create a fitting personality and backstory for that character. Feel free to skim and focus only on the sections of most interest to you.


Overview

The spring thaw comes late to Lawton's Glen, but it brings with it all the excitement of a fawn taking its first steps. Wagons begin arriving from the farming villages to the south, carrying fresh food and a reprieve from the smoked meats, nuts, and root vegetables on which those hardy enough to pass a long winter in the border town have subsisted.

Such folk were few, once. Lawton's Glen began its life as a humble outpost on the northern frontier of the human kingdom of Franconia, consisting of little more than an inn and a general store built near the entrance to the dwarven mining community of Knutsdir.

At first the little town facilitated trade only with the dwarves, but soon trappers and explorers traveling up the Stonewall River to seek their fortunes in the wild lands that lay beyond the Obsidian Pass began using it as a stopover. They brought with them food and textiles to trade with the snow elves and barbarian tribes of the Frozen Wastes, and over time the Glen became a small but cosmopolitan trading post where traders from all of these groups gathered to exchange their goods.

Then came the Orc Wars. King Gralen of Franconia, a devoted paladin of Amala, declared a crusade against the followers of Gruumsh in the name of his god. For twenty years, his armies roamed the Frozen Wastes, pillaging orcish villages and dens.

Lawton's Glen served as a barracks, a winter camp, and a staging ground for many a raid, and at times the soldiers garrisoned there quadrupled the population of the previously small town. Taverns, dance halls, brothels, and others businesses opened to serve the soldiers, and soon Lawton Glen was a boom town.

The locals like to joke that they were the only winners in the Orc Wars. King Gralen's crusades, many of which he personally led, succeeded only in driving the orcs underground. His enemies united under a shaman named Garduk and, at great loss of life to themselves and the humans, defended most of their ancestral territory.

The Wars came to an end when Gralen and two score of his best knights were lost to a sudden blizzard. Gralen's son Darrick lacked his father's religious fervor and saw an easy opportunity to win the hearts of his people by bringing the crusades to an end. Nearly two hundred soldiers remain garrisoned at Lawton's Glen, however, to guard the Obsidian Pass and discourage reprisals.

Perhaps the biggest losers in the Orc Wars were the dwarves, for whom the influx of orcs meant an increase in raids on their homes and skirmishes in their tunnels. Lawton's Glen continues to enjoy good relations with Knutsdir, but elsewhere the dwarves grew more suspicious of humans, and vice versa. In an effort to end the Wars, the dwarves dramatically reduced exports of their coveted weapons precisely when Franconia needed them most, leading to a spike in prices and accusations of profiteering from the humans.

Meanwhile, the Wars have stirred up trouble for the elven and Northman tribes of the Frozen Wastes as well. Savage beasts once thought confined to the realm of myth have returned to the north, rendering the already-hard lives of the nomads all the more treacherous.
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:56, Mon 14 Oct 2019.

Lawton's Glen

Lawton's Glen, initially built to facilitate trade with the dwarves of Knutsdir, soon evolved into an outpost for trappers, traders, and explorers bound for the Frozen Wastes. As trade between Franconia and the peoples of the north increased, the town began serving as a common marketplace as well. Finally, as a result of the Orc Wars, it is now a garrison and fort protecting the Kingdom's northern border.

Nominally, Baron Farquand is the ultimate authority and representative of the King in Lawton's Glen. However, the town has a deep history of independence, and its prominent merchants are not keen on taking orders. Farquand is King Garrick's compromise, a man of little authority who spends most of his time at his hunting lodge on nearby Clearwater Lake. For the most part, Lawton's Glen is self-governing, with several of its most wealthiest citizens effectively making most important decisions. They pay a reasonable tax to the crown, and the King largely leaves them to do as they see fit.


Year-round residents number only a few hundred. In addition to the roughly two hundred soldiers garrisoned there, a few business owners stay open to serve them and pay their most valued employees extremely well to endure the long winter. Most of the "lifers" are slightly eccentric Francos, with a strong ethic of self-reliance. They look with some disdain upon those who spend only the warmer months in Lawton's Glen, but because those people are their customers, they aren't too open about their prejudices.

Thanks to its neighboring dwarven miners, Lawton's Glen enjoys cheap and easy access to stone, and most buildings intended to survive the winter are built of it. At the outset of the Orc Wars, a wooden palisade was built around the barracks and the city center where most of these stone buildings are centered.

During peak season, the population swells to nearly three thousand. There are plentiful inns and boardinghouses, but the majority of seasonal visitors live in tent communities on the outskirts of town or in hastily-built housing that will not survive the winter. Many of these are itinerant and will remain in town only a few days at a time before heading off into the wilderness. Lawton's Glen is far more racially diverse during the warm season.

Knutsdir

Roughly three hundred dwarves live in the mining community of Knutsdir, which is directly below Lawton's Glen and connected to it by a rope-and-pulley lift in the town's center. Those daunted by the lift can opt to instead traverse the long, vertical tunnel via one thousand or so stairs carved into its stone walls. Neither option is particularly appealing to non-dwarves, nor is there much of interest to an outsider in Knutsdir, so there are far more dwarves traveling from Knutsdir to Lawton's Glen then vice versa.

The dwarves of Knutsdir are mostly miners and craftspeople. They grow little food of their own, preferring instead to trade their plentiful stone and expertly crafted weapons and supplies for crops grown by the human farmers of Franconia.

Clearwater Lake

Just west of Lawton's Glen is a beautiful alpine lake known as Clearwater. Wealthy Franco nobles claimed the lake and its surrounding wilderness for themselves long before the town was built. They maintain majestic hunting lodges and summer homes on its shores and hire rangers to prevent poaching on their private game reserves.

The Stonewall River

The Stonewall River descends from the Obsidian Pass through Lawton's Glen and serves as the primary corridor connecting the town to the rest of Franconia. In warmer months, snowmelt makes the river deep and wide enough to enable passage by canoe. A well-maintained trail parallels the water through the river gorge, facilitating travel for small wagons and portage around occasional rapids.
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:56, Mon 14 Oct 2019.

Lawton's Glen sits just below the Obsidian Pass, the gateway through the mountains to the Frozen Wastes that lay beyond. The name Frozen Wastes originates with Franco explorers, and the land north of the mountains is not in fact a barren wasteland. Rather, it is a land of breathtaking beauty and unforgivably harsh weather, home to a variety of hardy nomads and fantastical creatures.

The Obsidian Pass


The Obsidian Pass takes its name from the black, glassy rock that streaks the cliffs overlooking it. The pass serves as the only known route for passing between the Kingdom of Franconia and the Frozen Wastes to the north. It typically becomes passable by late spring, though avalanches and sudden storms are a threat at any time of year. Despite a well-traveled path, the going is not easy, and only the properly-outfitted can expect to make the journey safely. Still, it is vital to trade between Franconia and the peoples of the north.

A shrine to Roda, god of commerce, sits atop the pass, welcoming travelers of any race to come in out of the elements. Clerics of Rada visit only occasionally to tend the grounds, but the shrine's fire burns year-round, and its storehouses seem never to be empty. Many a traveler who met with misfortune in the mountains has been saved by this shrine.

When weather permits, soldiers from the Lawton's Glen garrison patrol the pass to ensure it is free of orcs, highwaymen, boulders, and other hazards and obstructions.

The Frozen Wastes

Beyond the Obsidian Pass lies an expanse of flat, barren tundra. Though the name Frozen Wastes is often used to describe everything north of the pass, it applies most accurately here. Though occasionally interrupted by small streams and foothills, the tundra remains largely unbroken for dozens of miles in any direction.

Crossing the Wastes is the most hazardous part of any journey to the north, given the dearth of food, water, and shelter. Only those intimately familiar with the terrain know how to find these scarce resources, which are often the cause of violent confrontations between elves, orcs, and Northmen.

Windermere Peak

A lone mountain, presumably volcanic in origin, rises up out of the Frozen Wastes as if by miracle. It is part of no range, nor do any foothills surround it.

Among the Francos, it is known by the name of the explorer who discovered it. Of course, the nomads who live in the Frozen Wastes have long known of the peak, with many attaching spiritual significance to it, and they have their own names for it.

The Savage Sea

The origin of the Savage Sea's name is a matter of dispute, with some claiming it is named for the nomads who camp on its shores. Others claim that it takes its name from strange and terrifying creatures rumored to dwell within it, while others still insist that the sea itself, which though bitterly cold never freezes, is itself savage.

The precise size and contour of the sea remains a mystery as well. No one has ever credibly claimed to have crossed it nor to have reached its northern border by land.
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:57, Mon 14 Oct 2019.

The Franco Pantheon

These aren't fleshed out yet, but here are the names, alignments, and domains of the major gods in the Franco pantheon. Other races worship the same gods, though they may conceptualize them differently. If you choose to play a divine caster or other character interested in one or more of the gods, then you're welcome to play a role in fleshing them out.

Amala, the Sun (LG) - Father of the gods. Knowledge, Life, Light, Order, Protection, War
Lunara, the Moon (CG) - Mother of the gods. Arcana, Grave, Knowledge, Nature, Tempest, Trickery
Aquila, the Eagle (NN) - Life, Nature, Trade, War
Roda, the Wheel (NG) - Order, Protection, Trade, War
Azeria, the Fox (NE) - Arcana, Grave, Knowledge, Life, Trickery
Juma, the Hammer (LE) - Order, Protection, Trade, War
Hrom, the Thunder (CE) - Light, Nature, Tempest, Trickery
Forza, the Flame (CN) - Arcana, Grave, Knowledge, Light
Kann, the Mountain (LN) - Nature, Protection, Tempest, Trickery

The Franco Creation Story

The existence of divinity is not in question; there's far too much evidence in the world. However, it is the nature of divinity to exceed the understanding of mortal beings, who nevertheless insist on trying to make sense of it.

This is the story the Francos tell about how the world and the various races were created. It's only their version of things, just as the above is only their idea about the personalities of the god(s). Others disagree, often vehemently.

Amala the Father created the world and the first humans. He loved them well and wanted nothing but good things for them, and so he filled their world with light. He fixed the sun in the sky, that they might feel the warmth of his love, and he saw to it that their fields were bountiful and they wanted for nothing. They spent their days enjoying the pleasures of food and flesh and singing the praises of their creator.

Amala's wife, Lunara, watched in silent disapproval. She thought that this was no life for the humans, but she did not love them as Amala did, and she did not wish to cross her husband. Then she bore him a son, Azeria, and as Azeria grew, she saw that he, like the humans, was not possessed of vigor, for he had no place in the world. His father had already met the humans' every need, and so Azeria had no way to contribute to the world.

Finally, she could bear the sight of her withering son no longer. She stood between Amala and his creation, and as the world was plunged into darkness, she bid Azeria go forth and try his hand at creation without his father's interference. But Azeria's heart was twisted with dissatisfaction and resentment, so he created ferocious beasts that stalked man, stole his crops, and trampled his homes.

When Amala saw what his wife and child had done, he grew furious. In his rage he endowed his creations with a martial spirit. He gave them the knowledge of weapons and an innate desire to hunt and kill the beasts of the land and the ingenuity to build sturdier homes, as well as walls that would protect both house and field.

Despite her husband's anger, Lunara saw that this was good. She esteemed the humans' lives richer and better than the hedonism in which they had lived and saw that they were enhanced by their struggles. But Amala was wise to her machinations now, and it was not so easy to stand between him and his world.

Lunara alone did not possess the power of creation. For this she required Amala's essence, and so she lay with him and took his essence into her womb and fashioned from it a thundercloud named Hrom. Like his brother, Hrom delighted in being meddlesome, and in time the two of them became a team wreaking havoc on their father's creation. Hrom would drift between them, casting a shadow over the world (for he was not as powerful as his mother, who could cloak it in darkness), and Azeria would pounce upon the world and create some new terror. Between them, they created terrible storms, plagues, insects that man could not fight off with the weapons Amala had given them.

Then, emboldened, they created entire races of monsters who lived to destroy: orcs, goblins, ogres, and other monstrosities swarmed the world. Like humans, they were endowed the capacity to wield weapons and build fortifications, and if anything they were even more warlike.

Amala's old friend Kann had long been envious of the world Amala had created. Though it gave him some pleasure to see the humans struggling, he also saw that it brought pain to his friend, and so he wished to create allies for the humans. Because he knew Amala was too proud to accept help, Kann worked in secret, crafting a race of mighty warriors beneath the surface of the world. To further distract his friend, he thrust up great peaks of stone beneath which his people, which he called dwarves, could build kingdoms.

When it came to building, the dwarves exceeded even the humans in their brilliance, for Kann endowed them with discipline. Where humans possessed passion and independence, Kann gave his creation long lives, determination, and a willingness - indeed, a desire - to follow orders.

Kann's wife Roda taught them to build roads, and wagons to drive along their roads. Thus organized, Kann's armies marched to the aid of the humans, and together they kept the monsters at bay.
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:41, Thu 17 Oct 2019.

Currency

There is no perfectly universal currency. The Kingdom of Franconia uses the standard D&D currencies of GP, SP, CP, etc. (though I find anything smaller than GP pretty meaningless in the economy of the typical D&D game and not really worth fussing over). Dwarves like gold and though they have their own coins they'll happily accept those of the Francos.

The tribes of the North have less interest in it, since you can't eat or wear it. Sometimes they melt it down for jewelry, and as their trade with Franconia has increased, they're starting to see more value in it, but that varies on a case-by-case basis.

Pelts

Pelts and furs have more universal appeal, because they can function as both functional and luxury goods. Their prices, however, can vary drastically depending on where you're trying to sell or "spend" them. Lawton's Glen has a relatively stable market, and you can expect to sell them there at roughly the following prices:

Raccoon - 1g
Fox - 5g
Mink - 10g
Wolf - 20g
Bear - 50g

They fetch far higher prices as you move further south in Franconia, though of course that entails the cost of transporting them.

The tribes of the north would be most likely simply to barter for them, though if they had currency on hand they'd probably be happy to unload it.

Obsidian Weapons

In the right hands, obsidian can be formed into a far sharper blade than steel. However, it is also more fragile. Obsidian weapons offer +1 on attack and damage rolls, but on an attack roll of 1, they shatter and become unusable (certain races skilled with these weapons can reduce this chance).

Only slashing and piercing weapons can be made from obsidian. Arrows and crossbow bolts made from obsidian grant only a +1 to damage, not to attack.

Obsidian weapons mostly must be purchased or bartered from one of the northern tribes that crafts them. Prices typically range from 150% to 300% of the price of a steel weapon. If such weapons are available in Franconia at all, as they sometimes are in Lawton's Glen, it would be at a higher premium.
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:25, Tue 22 Oct 2019.

This is far from an exhaustive list, just a smattering of ideas I have concerning factions in the game. I'll add to this over time, hopefully with some player suggestions as well!

The King's Men

The King's Men are a secret society of Franco soldiers who remain loyal to King Gralen and his crusade against the orcs. As far as they're concerned, the Wars aren't over, and Darrick has betrayed his country and his father's memory.

Their society is "secret" in name only. In truth, they enjoy sufficiently broad support in the military that their membership is an open secret.

Their calling card is a crown drawn in chalk or carved into wood, and it can be used as a threat, a signal, or a show of support, depending on the context.

The Tusk-Kickers

The Tusk-Kickers are a rough-and-tumble dwarven militia, with membership open only to those willing to stand on the front lines and defend their communities from orcish attackers. "Once a Tusk-Kicker, always a Tusk-Kicker" is their motto, and a member is duty-bound to aid any other member in whatever fashion that member requests. When they aren't kicking in orc heads, their favorite pursuit is sitting around taverns drinking and reminiscing about kicking in orc heads. Most dwarvish taverns have a table that, though not strictly reserved for the Tusk-Kickers, is quickly vacated whenever any enter the premises.

The Council of Concerned Citizens

The Council of Concerned Citizens might be better named the Council of Wealthy Citizens. Its leadership is a who's who of Lawton Glen's most prominent citizens, including several members of the Lawton family. They serve as both chamber of commerce and de facto government for the town, promoting its economic interests and functionally ruling in Governor Farquand's stead, as the noble lacks both the clout and the inclination to oppose them on most issues.

In order to present a more united front, the Council has members from across the city's social and economic strata, but they are more like employees than co-equals. The Lawtons and their allies call the shots, and everyone knows it.

The Lightkeepers

The Lightkeepers maintain the roads to and from Lawton's Glen as well as the various shrines and wilderness supply caches that serve travelers in need. Many serve Roda and the other gods of trade, but many more are simply concerned citizens. In fact, it's common for a trapper or trader whose life is saved by one of these shrines to repay the favor by becoming a Lightkeeper himself.
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:47, Tue 15 Oct 2019.

The below is mostly thanks to Sikuaq:

Quinichiat Druids

The snow elf tribes all have their own chieftains, shamans, and elders to lead their people and decide on travel routes, how long to hunt in an area, what political alliances to forge with other tribes, and so on. In this way the tribes are largely independent of each other.  But they also have an overarching organization that looks out for Quinichiat society as a whole, and that is the Druidic Council.

The council is made up of druids drawn from all the tribes, forming a group representative of the Quinichiat as a whole.  Their mandate is to preserve and guide Quinichiat society, including maintaining historical knowledge of the people, providing stewardship over their ancestral lands, providing guidance to the tribes for decisions that affect the whole of the Quinichiat people, and arbitrating disputes between the tribes.

Like all Quinichiat, the druids have a penchant for action rather than rumination, so many of these duties are undertaken with a proactive if not an outright aggressive stance.  One such example, rumoured at least, is that emissaries of the druids were integral in convincing King Darrick to cease the crusades in the North.


Impact of the Crusades

The crusades created significant hardships for the Quinichiat.  The large influx of southerners displaced many of the Northmen, and those that did not join their southern brethren were forced to seek space and territory elsewhere.  That focused their aggression on the snow elves, leading to many conflicts for all the tribes, and significant loss of life on both sides.

In addition, the Quinichiat were forced to withdraw somewhat from the areas closest to the Obsidian Pass, to avoid direct conflicts with the crusaders as they moved back and forth through the pass.  This distasteful action was taken after negotiation and some skirmishes ended badly for the snow elves.  Since the cessation of the crusades the Quinichiat have moved to recover their lands close to the pass.

Lastly, the disruption to the northern ecosystem, including the Quinichiat, Northmen and orcish tribes has stirred an angry response from Nature in the form of monstrous creatures rising from the depths of ice and memory that now plague the lands of the Quinichiat.  Battling these creatures to defend and protect the people has also cost the Quinichiat dearly.


This message was last edited by the GM at 14:47, Mon 04 Nov 2019.

The mountain dwarves' underground kingdom of Gruundelheim once spanned the known world, connected by a vast network of tunnels and natural caverns. With time, however, low birth rates and disinclination toward travel diminished the size of the dwarven kingdom and caused the more remote communities to become isolated from their king. Many of the passages that once connected them are no longer guarded or maintained and have become quite dangerous to travel. Ever a lawful people, most of the dwarves in the peripheral towns remain loyal to Gruundelheim though they've had no contact with it in decades.

The dwarves are a tough and hardworking people with great respect for physical strength and the law. They have little tolerance for those they perceive as rulebreakers, and mob justice is neither illegal nor uncommon. Most think of Kann, the Mountain, as their patron though Juma, the Hammer, has his share of worshippers. Even those not evilly inclined respect his rigid, authoritarian style and his appreciation of fine craftsmanship.

Dwarves tend toward mining and crafting professions and prefer to trade for food rather than grow their own, though when necessary they cultivate mushrooms and root vegetables and sometimes even hunt underground beasts as game.

The mountain dwarves and the Francos have long maintained a loose alliance against the orcs. By driving many orcs underground, where they began raiding dwarven communities with greater frequency and intensity, King Gralen's crusades strained this alliance, and trade between the two is at its lowest in recent memory (which for the dwarves is quite a long time).

Knutsdir

Knutsdir is a small mining community of roughly three hundred dwarves located directly beneath Lawton's Glen. Or, more accurately, the Francos built their on top of Knutsdir. The town's original purpose was to trade for dwarven stone and weapons, and a massive rope-and-pulley platform lift still connects the center of Lawton's Glen to the quarry.

The tunnel that once connected Knutsdir to northern Gruundelheim has been abandoned as hopelessly dangerous, but the community still takes its fealty to the greater dwarven kingdom seriously. The town and its quarry are built around a huge underground chamber from which countless smaller caves, caverns, and crevices emanate. Most are shallow and lead nowhere in particular, but there are far too many to explore them all.

Burgman Sisgrac Broadhelm, appointed by the king nearly two hundred years ago, continues to collect and pay his feudal dues diligently. He enforces the king's law where applicable and his own law when necessary. The residents of Knutsdir mostly obey without question, even taking it upon themselves to enforce the Burgman's laws on those who break them.

Knutsdir does not have a professional military. Rather, the citizens provide their own self-defense from the occasional giant insect or other threat to emerge from the maze of caverns in which they make their home. Most of the able-bodied adult residents, male and female, have some kind of weapon on hand, usually a pick or hammer, and a small amount of militia training.

The Northmen likely share ancestry with the Francos, though neither thinks or talks much about it. Culturally, they are quite distinct.

Northmen are members of barbarian tribes who roam the Northern Wastes beyond the Obsidian Pass. Though skilled at hunting and gathering, they are raiders first and foremost, pillaging tribes of Quinichiat, orcs, and even other Northman clans for food and other resources. Despite their frequently antagonistic relationship, they are actually more tolerant than Francos of their orcish neighbors and sometimes live and intermarry among them.

On the whole, they view the Francos as cowardly and soft, hiding behind walls and growing lazy from their excess. That said, they do begrudgingly barter for certain Franco luxuries and reserve a modicum of respect for those Franco traders hardy enough to seek them out in their northern abodes.

Pantheon

The intricacies of the Northmen's spiritual practices are a closely guarded secret, poorly understood by outsiders. It is closely bound up with astronomy, and they believe that their deities have celestial avatars in the skies and terrestial avatars in the animals of the tundra.

The most prominent is Ildiko, the Mother Bear, from whom Lake Ildiko derives its name. Ildiko is the creator and protector of the Northmen. She had seven cubs, and in order to ensure that they grew strong, she required them to compete for her favor and attention. The seven great clans of the modern Northmen claim descent from, and are named for, Ildiko's cubs: Karhu, Otso, Ungo, Callo, Onka, Jamvan, and Kerit.

The Northmen still see Ildiko in the sky, her body composed of seven brightly shining stars.

Thanks for Cora for inspiring and writing much of the following:

Orcs distinguish between half-orcs raised in orcish tribes, which they'll accept as one of their own (albeit an inferior one), and those raised by humans, whom they consider pathetic and domesticated. No matter where the child was raised, they believe that its orc blood is constantly warring for domination with its human blood. Because they have a grudging respect for the Northmen, they believe orcish blood to be more compatible with theirs. Half-orcs who share the blood of Francos are the lowest of the low.

Juga Orgadak, emphasis on the first word which is an import word in orcish meaning bag. A bag is a bag, a chest is a bag, a barrel is a bag to an orc. They'd use the term to hold if they meant carrying, a juga (zyee-yuga) is something you don't own that's property you can take if you're strong enough. Your possessions are you, but Juga is the stuff you take in a raid. It's only yours when treasure is divided, until then it's Juga

Orgadak is a human who is our enemy. You don't respect an orgadak, you wish he would die. Orgadak is inherently submissive in orcish language, the orgadak submits to stronger blood, be it worthier humans, orcs or gods. This doesn't mean orcs don't follow orders and submit to authority, but they see blind feudalism as the nature of the orgadak. The phrase is, to say the least, not a polite one to use in orcish society.