Dark Jungle - Common Info

Kathonia

The lore of your people covers the knowledge of this holy land, and I will not further extrapolate upon it. I will, however, warn you against the human threat. Humankind infests these lands and should be enslaved or destroyed. Humans breed like rabbits and have little regard for the mysteries of this land; they befoul every place they inhabit.

Nestled in the Horn Mountains beside the Celestial Lakes is Kathonia, a series of rivers, lakes and marshes home to a great variety of reptilian creatures. The temperatures are semi-tropical, with mild winters filled with rainstorms and scorching, humid summers. The Celestial Lakes to the north are home to several human tribes. Further south are the marshlands, which are filled with large reptilian creatures. These creatures are wild variants of the reptilian mounts salamanders use. Local humans tame some of them, while salamander hunters train some of the rarer species, turning them into highly prized mounts. The flying lizards are some of the most popular.

Humans and salamanders roam this region, and a few human villages and salamander forts dot the perimeter. Humans here are primitive and fierce, as they are constantly at war with their surroundings and the salamanders. They are olive-skinned, with dark wavy hair and deep-brown eyes. Salamanders who hunt in this region are from the land of Zzzalon, and come to gather the beasts and humans for sale.

Within the Horn Mountains are inner cliffs, which form a holy place for salamander priestesses. Kathonia is called the Nest of the Ancient Dragons of the World and the Birthplace of the Dragon Gods. No human or salamander god dominates this region, though rival dragon gods contest it.

Specifics:

I do not have a map of Kathonia, when I have one I'll post it in this thread.

Initial recommended startup zone is near what I'll call the Central Lake for now, but feel free to place yourself elsewhere. Central Lake has two rivers flowing into it, both with 'river deltas' of Household scale. Central Lake has one river flowing out.

No matter where you are in the zone, food is plentiful. All three rivers and Central Lake host silver fish. The jungle hosts various wild berries, fruits, and tubers. Various small game animals inhabit the area.

There are ruins that dot the landscape; it is NOT recommended you start near or self forbid, on top of one. Do so at your own peril.

There is an area of quicksand pits to the northwest of the central lake. Think of them like the La Brea tarpits, only not boiling or black, and less sticky.

There are plenty of stone and wood deposits in the region. The mountains are full of metals, with a few veins of ore near the surface. (Enough to manufacture a FEW metal tools, but requiring enough work that It'll be near the end of the campaign before they become common, and that'll require MAJOR effort by the PCs.)

Potentially hostile animals:
The 'thunder lizards' go up to Village scale, but they generally hunt the animals of one scale smaller in the deep jungle.

There is a violent 'tribe' of red apes in the east, but they keep to their own territory, and won't be coming to the Center Lake area unless motivated by outside sources to do so.

The Black Boar is a Household size critter with d8 Body. It's pretty much the most dangerous non-reptilian thing in the Center Lake area.

Raptor Bats, Giant Spiders, and Venom Thorn (plant) inhabit the area, but none of these are likely to invade your villages.

Hostile Humanoids:
As noted, both Humans and Salamanders are a universal threat. The salamander slaving parties have not yet reached the Cental Lake area.

Undines don't go too much farther than the beaches, often for logging or hunting purposes.

No KNOWN enclaves of gnomes exist in the mountains.

The only Sylphs seen in the area are looking for something; there are no Sylph enclaves in Kathonia at present.

There are NO dryads in the Kathonia region.

There is a race of avian people (High Men), once humans, who have their own deity. They live VERY high up in a mountain, hence the name High Men. At the current time, little is known about them.

Most of the threats in the early game will come from human tribes. Most will not have gods, some will, and a minority worship a Leviathan.

Divine Threats:
Currently, the dragon gods vie for control of the region. Whenever one gets a strong encampment, the others band together to wipe it out. To date, none of them has invested enough to become the sole dominant god. All players are warned by the ancient Chinese - "Do not kick the dragon in its eyeball."

I take no responsibility for other players or their worshippers. If the blue sock tribe goes to war with your people for not having invented socks yet, that's between the two players. (It's also a really stupid reason to go to war.) Anyway, there is the possibility that players will take confrontational views rather than cooperative.

The current plotline calls for multiple Leviathans; most are activated by player actions, but not all. If some nerf-herder invents a beehive ship and sails to the Island of the Dead invaders and back, that falls under the griefing clause under House Rules. But my point is that there WILL be Leviathans.

There is the potential, but not the certainty, for Wraiths (Vengeful spirits). If players want to miracle them up, that falls under creating their own problems.

There is the NEAR certainty of demons, but careful player actions can prevent it. Having experience with other deity systems, I'm almost certain that there will be demons. Possibly LOTS of them, especially if some nerf-herder decides to speed up their arrival.

It is highly unlikely that deities of the other Elder Races will give a flying fig what happens in the Kathonia region. However, players are warned that they CAN be made interested if y'all do stupid nerf-herder stuff.

So, is there a place near the Central lake that qualifies as woodlands or will I need to place my tribe in the jungle?

Unlike DnD, I'm not going to try pretending that trees in the jungle aren't made of wood. There are 'woodlands' all around the Central Lake. Just be aware that Woodlands won't net you the jungle critters not native to temperate woodlands.

Just so long as it nets me the trees and plant life... And the land thereabouts classified as such...

So when you say Jungle, do you mean Rainforest?

Let's see -

Poisonous frogs. Check.
Variety of insects. Undecided, but probably check.
Misty glades concealing giant dinos. Check.
Headhunting pygmies. Check.
Logging Companies; no check, but not in tech level.
English hunters; no check, but Salamander Slavers are standing by.
Vibrant ecology with room for plenty of species. Check.

If it looks like a frog, hops like a frog, croaks like a frog, then it's probably a frog. I have no problem calling Kathonia a rainforest.

English Hunters... You are twisted... I love it... I look forward to the start of this game...