In between the main lands of Generica and the sweltering subcontinent of Khoisan there is the isthmus of Liguria. Although it is now a tame and settled part of Generica, once Liguria had its own thriving culture, a nascent civilization in its own right. The Ligures were a tall, amber-haired people, with a strong architectural tradition built around linked domes that led to their settlements looking very much like hives to Generican observers. The high water mark of their civilization was around 450 B.C, with the city of Ligurian reaching more than a hundred thousand people.
Early Liguria
Liguria was thought to be a peninsula by early Generican mapmakers; the name has stuck. The thick Nightfall Jungle once covered the entire southern half of the land, restricting trade along the south portion and choking off useful production. The central highlands were where Ligurian was founded among the hot springs; Coldspring Way was built upon the ruins of the city. Further west the hills and highlands become sharp peaks, known as the Hellpoints. In the open grass tablelands along the western coast the many mystics and artists have been born, impressed by the spectacular eruptions of the volcanoes in the east.
Dawn in the Mesas of Hell
North of the Hellpoints and their foothills, more fertile tablelands are found. The maize grown in the northwest of Liguria is known to have been exported as far as Portugal, while further east is the beautiful High West Jungle, famous in ancient times for teak and numerous hardwoods. The division between northeast Liguria and Great Khoisan is less stark than the one in the south, but the high jungles gradually taper off, to be replaced by the drier Aln Forest and the stark desert hill country near the northern coast of the Ligure Sea. Between the Westblight Hills and the central hills lays some of the best natural pastureland in the world, and the Ligurians traded horses for their meat and work as far north as the ancient tribal tent-cities of Khoisan.
Wild horses are still found in watered areas of the Westblight
The thriving lands of Liguria were given by kingly fiat to a troublesome second son, Prince Kalin of Verdant Acres. King Felis authorized of his own funds the mobilization and arming of a 5,000-man strong battalion, armed with iron axes and armored with bronze helms. Much to the dismay of the eastern city-states, still locked in battle with the Zulu, Kalin took the whole battalion and sped northward, traveling by road up The Slot valley and crossing over to the dry lands at the Ford of Cecil. His whole battalion traveled with their families and a long train of supplies, making the entire expedition over twenty thousand.
The Muster of Kalin
Kalin’s Expedition only grew as it slowly migrated north. The second year they came to the southern edge of the Nightfall Jungle, meeting the armed and mobilized Cihil tribe, who were preparing to plunder several local tribes northward. The massive and well-equipped army of Kalin wiped out the warriors of the tribe, taking the minors and women of the Cihil with them as they trekked northward. The scattered tribes of the Nightfall Jungle hailed the Genericans as conquering heroes, giving the expedition a logistical base of operations. The tribes eagerly adopted Generic ways, but the prince set up camp in the hills below Ligurian, vowing to never rest until the city was his.
Kalin's Humble House, where the prince is reputed to have made his headquarters
What followed was a protracted campaign, the details lost to history, that went on for more than two decades. What is known is that the core of Kalin’s Expedition, some thousand axemen, broke down the walls of Ligurian and set the city aflame in the summer of 418 BC, raising such a pall of smoke that northern farmers thought a new volcano had erupted. The city of Coldspring Way was founded by Kalin the next year, although he spent the rest of his life suppressing rebellions in the north. His second son was favored to succeed him, a tradition that the Princes of Coldspring carried on for centuries.
Early Liguria
Liguria was thought to be a peninsula by early Generican mapmakers; the name has stuck. The thick Nightfall Jungle once covered the entire southern half of the land, restricting trade along the south portion and choking off useful production. The central highlands were where Ligurian was founded among the hot springs; Coldspring Way was built upon the ruins of the city. Further west the hills and highlands become sharp peaks, known as the Hellpoints. In the open grass tablelands along the western coast the many mystics and artists have been born, impressed by the spectacular eruptions of the volcanoes in the east.
Dawn in the Mesas of Hell
North of the Hellpoints and their foothills, more fertile tablelands are found. The maize grown in the northwest of Liguria is known to have been exported as far as Portugal, while further east is the beautiful High West Jungle, famous in ancient times for teak and numerous hardwoods. The division between northeast Liguria and Great Khoisan is less stark than the one in the south, but the high jungles gradually taper off, to be replaced by the drier Aln Forest and the stark desert hill country near the northern coast of the Ligure Sea. Between the Westblight Hills and the central hills lays some of the best natural pastureland in the world, and the Ligurians traded horses for their meat and work as far north as the ancient tribal tent-cities of Khoisan.
Wild horses are still found in watered areas of the Westblight
The thriving lands of Liguria were given by kingly fiat to a troublesome second son, Prince Kalin of Verdant Acres. King Felis authorized of his own funds the mobilization and arming of a 5,000-man strong battalion, armed with iron axes and armored with bronze helms. Much to the dismay of the eastern city-states, still locked in battle with the Zulu, Kalin took the whole battalion and sped northward, traveling by road up The Slot valley and crossing over to the dry lands at the Ford of Cecil. His whole battalion traveled with their families and a long train of supplies, making the entire expedition over twenty thousand.
The Muster of Kalin
Kalin’s Expedition only grew as it slowly migrated north. The second year they came to the southern edge of the Nightfall Jungle, meeting the armed and mobilized Cihil tribe, who were preparing to plunder several local tribes northward. The massive and well-equipped army of Kalin wiped out the warriors of the tribe, taking the minors and women of the Cihil with them as they trekked northward. The scattered tribes of the Nightfall Jungle hailed the Genericans as conquering heroes, giving the expedition a logistical base of operations. The tribes eagerly adopted Generic ways, but the prince set up camp in the hills below Ligurian, vowing to never rest until the city was his.
Kalin's Humble House, where the prince is reputed to have made his headquarters
What followed was a protracted campaign, the details lost to history, that went on for more than two decades. What is known is that the core of Kalin’s Expedition, some thousand axemen, broke down the walls of Ligurian and set the city aflame in the summer of 418 BC, raising such a pall of smoke that northern farmers thought a new volcano had erupted. The city of Coldspring Way was founded by Kalin the next year, although he spent the rest of his life suppressing rebellions in the north. His second son was favored to succeed him, a tradition that the Princes of Coldspring carried on for centuries.
If only you and me and dead people know hex, then only deaf people know hex.
I write RPG adventures, and blog about it, check it out.
I write RPG adventures, and blog about it, check it out.