[Shadowdancer]

Welcome to the Cartographer's Tower!

A good traveler is a prepared traveler ,
so make sure you know all about the destination of your next holiday ,
or maybe even adventure .
Study our collection of maps, globes and travel guides
or else experience the adventure in the comfortable safety of our halls
through the tomes of history and civilization of faraway places
- complete with maps of course.


Please do not remove the protective cover of the maps,
as some are very old and may crumble in your very hands.
You're not likely to afford the cost of them...
Be wary of the magical maps that might draw you into them
- our staff is not responsible for the misuse of such exhibits.


Oh, and please don't put pins in our maps.
Request your own copy - ready in a week and only 200 gold pieces
and throw darts at those to choose your destinations.

Enjoy your journey with the finger on the map...

Aceasta postare a fost editata de Asfaloth: 29 April 2007 - 08:57 AM

[Shadowdancer]

Portalia is the name given to both a world and its largest continent. Because, like many others, people of the continent - which is huge, indeed - believed theirs was the only one and identified it with the world. The continent is bordered by large oceans called Seas (The Trackless Sea, the Great Sea, the Great Ice Sea, etc.) and is home to many human and non-human races. Elves, humans, gnomes, dwarves, halflings, barbarians, giants... as well as non-human intelligent races and of course, mixes and crossbreeds of all sorts. From hot coastal regions in the south, trackless deserts and vast steppes, to high, eternally snowcovered mountains, forests that none has crossed (or so word has it...), swamps, mires, volcanoes and eternal glaciers - you can find just about any sort of climate in Portalia. And each region, as inhospitable as it may seem is nevertheless a cradle of life and called home by one race or another, with its specific culture and has seen the rise and fall of Empires, forged through might or magic, throughout the ages.

Given the vastness of the continent, few are those who know much about distant regions. However, from separate accounts of travelers and explorers, scholars have managed to put together a fairly accurate map of the known areas of Portalia, a copy of which we are proud to present in out Library. There are more detailed map of places nearer to what we at the Library call home, but we ever seek to expand our collection. Any intreprid adventurer that has traveled ar and wide is most welcome to help us expand our collection of maps and guides to the various regios of Portalia.

To one such adventurer we own the privilege of also be able to present you a map of the other large inhabited continent, Khorvaire.

Also, there are legends and rumours of numerous other realms, reachable by either magical or else unknown means. Several pieces of evidence seem to support the existence of at least two of these realms, namely The Land of the Morning Star and Vraeslor. However, no artifact or map of these regios has reached our Library just yet. By piecing together what credible information could be gathered, we believe that we can take following facts as ceratin:


The Land of the Morning Star is strictly bordered by the dark and twisted forests of Morono which prevent an exact mapping of its neighbour realms. However, it is known that the realm is flat, and none of its extreme borders lead to known places. Has 5 major countries: Haraia, Siuraroth, Noxuriu, Ix and Xintuziij.

Vraeslor is always named togheter with its Southern neighbour realm, Padajuria. Vraeslor and Padajuria were the center of the most terrible war ever, however... now long forgotten by all legends. Vraeslor the red world is known for it's crimson domes of the sky that are closer to the ground than anywhere in the world and look like they shed blood tears.


Portalia, Khorvaire, Land of the Morning Star, Vraeslor

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Aceasta postare a fost editata de Asfaloth: 30 April 2007 - 10:53 AM

[Shadowdancer]

The Slimy Toad Inn - In the Western part of Portalia, in the region between Calimshan, the famous Coast region at the Shining Sea and Amn at the Sea of Awords, near a crossroads of the main road East lies a small town named Riatavin, with an inn famous among travelers. Close to where the road leaves the little town, on the little used road leading North, there lies the inn with the most famous beer in the region: the 'Slimy Toad'.

Barliman, the barkeeper, is a short round man, red in the face, always redy and willing to talk and undisputed master of preparing roasted turkey in a kettle. There are plenty of seats in his inn, the beds are clean and the stables large. Who tires of the road, wants a good beer, a rich meal, a place to spend the night or just to find out the latest news stops by the inn.

This is the occasional meeting place for known or un-known heroes, travelers, adventurers, mercenaries, refugees and the likes. In its halls it has happened that destinies have been changed, friendships forged or unmande and even the course of things for all Portalia altered. All over a mug of beer at The Slimy Toad.

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[Shadowdancer]

The Vanished City

Until not long ago, the name of 'place' was improper for the Vanished City, since it was believed to be a mere legend.

According to it, somewhere towards the sunset and then far away to the North, beyond all mountains and mires, there was a small but powerful kingdom, guarded by nearly impassable mountains. The capitol of this kingdom was a city of unsurpassed grandeur. We shall not insist upon its description now. Enough be said that it was built on a tall island in the middle of a huge lake. Blue walls surrounded it thrice, on three heights. If the rest of its defences - the mountains and the dark blue, almost black lake, were natural or not - that is not known. Most likely they weren't. The only known ruler of the kingdom was the Mage-King Kayffa, who reigned for several centuries. Whether he was a human who had prolonged his life with the help of magic and sorcery, or some other being that had taken on a human shape, that no one had ever found out.

His power was founded on a terribly strong magic, so that three neighbouring kingdoms that had conquered many peoples were sending him yearly tribute, in gold, grains, ore, sulphur, precious tomes and children. The journey of the animal handlers of the caravans with these goods was always a one-way one. It is known of no person to have ever left the empire. The king's messages were sent by hideous birds the size of eagles, with strong blood red beaks and covered in grey feathers. A strange intelligence gleamed in their orange eyes and they always accomplished their missions faithfully. Only on a few occasions did the king himself leave his country and those who made him... weren't too happy about it.

What stirred the imagination of people even more than the mystery of his ascencion to the throne, was the immeasurable wealth he had gathered (and it wasn't only gold and gems, but rather a huge collection of scrolls, pergaments, spells, long-forgotten books and artefacts strong beyond any grasp), as well as the sudden end of the kingdom. One day, the hideous bird messengers ceased to fly, the
caravans carrying tribute found the great Guard Gates locked and deserted and no other sign was ever seen or heard of the Mage-King.

Some said, the City had sunken into the lake, others that the island was actually a volcano that had errupted, thus breaking the spell on which the kingdom was built. Another theory claims that the King had returned to the Plane of Existence whence he had come, together with the powerful artefacts gathered from this world and so the kingdom slowly faded, caught in the ring of surrounding mountains, though small communities might have survived hidden. There is also a whispered rumour that the King had met his end at the hands of entities from other Planes, that he mastered through spells, when he has summoned one beyond his strength.

In any case, all attempts to identify traces of his kingdom in the Mountains, or those of the Vanished City have so far failed. After centuries, people have started to forget the truth and consider everything a mere legend. It was told to children in long winter nights and adventurers dreamed of its fabulous wealths around camp fires. No one however still considered hunting jhe mirage it had become.

Drogo the wizard apprentice has managed to steal a map of the Vanished City from his former (presumable gone mad) master, an old piece of skind depicting the great city on its island and the placement of other settlements inside the mountain rings.

Based on that and on various other rumours and legends, the rogue Thorn has identified the place as somewhere beyond (or inside) the Spine of the World, the impassable mountain rage that borders the North of Portalia, as shown on the map below.

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