By Brian Suskind Sep 27, 2019 | Articles, Warlock's Apprentice |
Two hundred years of war between the Mharoti Empire and Great Khandaria destroyed the fair country of Sindhu. Rivers of blood spilled from the clash of armies, titanic detonations of alchemical munitions, and arcane corruption from all manner of spells transformed this once fertile land into the Red Wastes. Yet among the hastily buried corpses, shattered skeletons of siege engines, and forgotten encampments, great plunder and lost arcana await...
By Brian Suskind Jan 5, 2018 | Articles, Warlock's Apprentice |
Bringing you a taste from the dark pages of Warlock… Down a mostly forgotten passage of the Undercity, behind a partially cleared rockfall, lies the arched chamber containing the Crimson Oubliette. Once known as the Depths, this wretched prison of narrow cell doors dotting the curving walls of a five hundred foot deep cylindrical shaft housed those who society wished to forget (including an entire tribe of scrags). Then a ground tremor...
By Brian Suskind Nov 29, 2017 | Articles, Midgard Expanded |
Having made our escape from the wicked spider slavers by means of Qatin’s gravity-defying magic, Agosto and I helplessly soared higher and higher into the sky. The exhilaration of freedom quickly gave way to stark terror. “Agosto!” I shouted. “We appear to be rising up into the sky at an alarming rate!” “That is true, master!” my servant called back to me. A Hard Landing, Part 10 “What now, then!?!” Agosto gave me a cheeky grin. “I know not,...
By Brian Suskind Sep 13, 2017 | Articles, Midgard Expanded |
Part 9, Bowing Before the Spider Gods (Ruined Pages—Fragments) Monks…slavers… …affixed the chains to our wrists and connected us to the line of other slaves. …they eat their foes….dragged…. A portal in the archway… …elsewhere…high-plateau, very arid… …now near a brackish lake, we… …thermal spring…leaping snake shot like an arrow…which poisoned Agosto!… ….Never should have left home… Sharp teeth…taste of webbing… …torments abound…...
By Brian Suskind Aug 30, 2017 | Articles |
Alchemical Warfare Alchemical weapons have a long history in RPGs. It is a safe bet that the first gamers found themselves in a situation where igniting a flask of oil seemed like a great idea. Thumbing through the pages of history it is easy to find references to chemical weaponry. Chinese generals used clouds of vapor distilled from mustard seeds to blind their enemies. Indian alchemists used a serum distilled from certain tree roots, plants...
By Brian Suskind Jun 21, 2017 | Articles, Midgard Expanded |
Part 8, Captured by the Monks of Leng Woe and calamity! Imagine the worst that might befall a traveler, and that thought pales in comparison to what has happened to Agosto and I! Desert duststorms drove us Northward for three more days in clouds of choking grit and sand. But on the fourth day, the sky cleared, and it was then that we saw the black city lurking at the base of the cliff-like mountains. We stopped to refill our waterskins at an...
By Brian Suskind Apr 12, 2017 | Articles, Midgard Expanded |
Part 7, Rescued by Yakfolk When a traveler leaves Khubara, the local people have a quaint custom in which they attack the departing voyager and attempt to rob him of both goods and life. Such was the farewell we experienced upon our own leave taking. Now, I shall not say all in Khubara advocate such behavior, for I did not see all of them waylay us, but there were a significant number of them. I should like to say that my stalwart blade flashed...
By Brian Suskind Mar 8, 2017 | Articles, Midgard Expanded |
Part 6, On the Plains of Qaen, Flying Cities, and the Mountains of Beldestan A traveler who leaves Rhaga to journey eastward rides for seven days across the Plains of Qaen. No lodging houses operate in this land except in a few remote locations. Many beautiful groves of date palms grow here and abundant wild game makes for plentiful hunting. It was while traveling across these fine lands that I first beheld one of the fabled Flying Cities of...
By Brian Suskind Jan 25, 2017 | Articles, Midgard Expanded |
Part 5, On Parthia and the Fire-Worshippers of Atashkala Upon leaving Tabur by barge, it’s a twelve-day journey upon the Lumeta River. We fended off centaur raiders twice before reaching the eastern edge of the empire at the fortress town of Kazan. An impressive fortification, the town rests on both sides of the water and features a wall stretching beyond the bounds of the settlement to the horizon both north and south. The Gorgan...
By Brian Suskind Dec 28, 2016 | Articles, Midgard Expanded |
Part Four, On Traveling Eastward Let us pause a moment and speak on the decision to leave for the East via the city of Tabur. There are some who would advise a traveler to depart instead from the fortress city of Sarkland in the Gizmiri province. This advice is the height of folly. Though it is true that the Campaign Trail does stretch to the East from Sarkland, that road wanders through endless fields of the empire’s past battles with...
By Brian Suskind Nov 23, 2016 | Articles, Midgard Expanded |
Part Three, On Betik, Province of the Book A prominent province indeed, Betik is well known as one of the greatest provinces of the entire Mharoti Empire. The road from Qiresh to Betik runs some 550 miles through high passes of the Dragoncoil. Yet this is not a hard journey as well-appointed hostels and waystations dot the trade road. Once clear of the peaks, the land opens to pleasant valleys, scattered with lakes and rivers. The slopes are so...
By Brian Suskind Oct 26, 2016 | Articles, Midgard Expanded |
Part Two, Qiresh and the Roads of the Mharoti Empire On the coast of the Ruby Sea is the town of Qiresh, which is a bustling centre of trade. You may depend on it that spices and cloths and all manner of valuable things from the interior are carried to this town. Qiresh possesses a sheltered harbor flanked by high cliff walls, and it is upon these cliffs that the town itself resides. It boasts the great Ringing Temple, the second-greatest...
By Brian Suskind Oct 12, 2016 | Articles, Midgard Expanded |
Introduction, In Which We Meet Our Narrator and Learn Of His Reasons YE emperors, kings, dukes, marquises, earls, and knights, and all other people desirous of knowing the diversities of the races of Midgard, as well as the diversities of kingdoms, provinces, and regions of all parts of the East, read through this account, and I will relate the greatest and most marvelous characteristics of the peoples especially of Beldestan, Khandiria,...
By Brian Suskind Oct 17, 2014 | Articles, Front Page |
In the Southlands Kickstarter, backers just unlocked some martial traditions for the blue turban warriors. To give you a sense of what’s in store for the blue turban paladins, Brian Suskind provides you with another quick peek! Read on! Wearing indigo-colored cheche, a garment that is both veil and turban, and flowing white robes, the Tamasheq of the Crescent and Sarklan Deserts are a simple tribal people journeying endlessly from oasis...
By Brian Suskind Sep 29, 2014 | Articles, Front Page |
In the center of the Southlands is the great Kusini Plains: a serengeti-like savannah home to countless numbers of wildlife, megafauna, and towering dinosaurs. Many kingdoms and civilizations have risen and fell in this massive area, leaving only remnants and ruins behind. With the detritus of so many destroyed and once overlapping cultures littering the landscape, characters are sure to run across strange oddities and mysterious bits of junk....
