World Building Post: City of Red Fern

October 4, 2021

As I may have said before, Dear Readers, I’ve been having one heck of a week. My hot water heater went out couple weeks ago and all I’ve been doing since then, it seems, is dealing with contractors, restoration people, and the insurance company.


This is made getting things done here quite the challenge, to say the least.


As such, I don’t have access to the things sometimes that I wish I did in order to be able to do the posts that I want to do.


So today, let’s do a little world building. Be forewarned, though, I’ve been rereading Dune, so I’ve taken some inspiration from that source.


The City

First off, let’s make it a city, the capitol city of the nation, I’ll call Endyr.


We’ll say it has just about any amenity that a party could need, shops, a tavern, a couple of inns, etc…


Let’s start with the government.


Government

I’m planning on using Red Fern as a primary city from which the first part of my adventure will come from. To make it relatively safe, I’ll make it a monarchy, with a King and Queen, both in their 40’s. King Jalen Cantorel and Queen Alamera. They have a son, Eidar, of whom they have no memory nor are they aware the location of. More on him later.


King Jalen has been king since he was in his 20’s when his father passed away on a hunting trip with the male heads of the kingdom’s noble houses, both major and minor. There are whispers that the head of House Mogumir, Baron Daekon Mogumir, was responsible, but nothing conclusive could be proven.


Other than the monarchy, the kingdom is ruled by the noble houses, both major and minor, in the Counsel of Nobles. The head of the counsel is, of course, House Cantorel, the king’s house, with the two Houses Major, House Targana, and House Mogumir, and the Houses Minor.


House Targana is ruled by a good and just Duke Targana. He and his wife have two children, the oldest, a son, lost during a hunting trip. Allegedly went over a cliff. Remains never found, presumed dead. The other is a daughter (one of the PCs). Everyone believes her to be dead as well (we’ll get to that later as well).


Baron Mogumir is the head of is noble house. He has no children nor wife, and has chosen one of his nephews, Chiskra, to be his na-Baron, or heir to the barony. He is behind the disappearance of the Prince, as well as the Duke’s son, and is also the reason that nobody remembers the Prince or the Duke’s daughter.


As a primary antagonist in the first part of the campaign, the Baron has a lot of evil schemes, attempting to get his nephew named as the heir apparent to the throne, as neither the king, nor the duke have any heirs, being just one. Using powerful magics acquired from an unknown source, the baron had several crystals of modify memory created, to force those within it’s influence to remember things differently than reality (i.e. – the lack of heir to the throne, the existence of the duke’s daughter, etc…).


The land is split up into fiefs, each controlled by a house, be it a House Major or House Minor. When the king needs troops, he draws from the standing military as well as the house troops of each of the noble houses, with house Mogumir and House Targana each providing the vast majority of the troops.


Squabbles between the members of the Counsel of Nobles does happen, although most are shadow wars, with members of the Houses Minor sometimes taking sides for various political and social reasons, vying for power to possibly become another House Major.


Possible Adventures

There are several options when looking at the above information to create new adventures.

  1. Exposing a plot of the Baron – the baron has his hands in many a shady industry, be it poisons, slavery, smuggling, etc… Thwarting several of the plots and finding evidence to eventually bring him to justice could be a great campaign arc
  2. Naming of an Heir – with neither the crown nor the duke with any heir, the Mogumirs attempt to get the na-Baron named the heir apparent for the kingdom. Where is the prince and how did he get there? Finding the lost prince could easily be tied into the above plots with exposing the baron.
  3. Inter-house squabbles – maybe one or another of the Houses Minor (or even Major!) enlists the party to help navigate some point of political intrigue with the houses vying for power. This setup is rife with options for a campaign or series of adventures surrounding the idea of political intrigue.
  4. Attempted Assassination – the party witnesses the attempted assassination of the baron by someone saying “House Targana sends their regards!” before getting away! Who is the assassin, and does he actually work for House Targana or is this some setup job by house Mogumir or one of the Houses Minor?
  5. Where? – Where is the baron keeping all of these people that he’s made “disappear” like the prince? Maybe the prince isn’t the only one missing that the baron is responsible for. Where and how would he hide these prisoners?
  6. Why, Baron? – Why is the baron doing all of these things? Is it for his own gain alone, or is he working for someone else who has a stake in all of these things? Is the king involved and working through a proxy? If it isn’t the king, then who is directing the baron to commit these horrible crimes?


Conclusion

If you couldn’t tell, I am doing some world building from our Tuesday campaign, the Inglorious Ingrates. The Kingdom of Endyr has had some very troubling events over the last year, and it seemed that the Baron Mogumir was at the center of it all…or was he?


What are your thoughts on the Kingdom of Endyr? Do you think it’s something that you could use in your own campaign? Leave your thoughts on it in the comment section below.


Until next time, Dear Readers…

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