So in my post about gremlins last November I mentioned that I might use the idea to inspire a setting or adventure or something, and this is the result of that, now that I am done writing the Immortal Naturalist's Guide. This setting is actually where the Old Gritville Mine is located, so I guess that is convenient. Anyways, lore:
Introduction: Gremland is a small country in the Shattered Mountains known for being difficult to get to and being completely overrun with gremlins. About 50 years ago, Gremland was known as Grimland, an ancient kingdom which had been ruled by the Grimland Monarchy for almost 1,000 years. King Mercutio, the last ruler of Grimland, caused the fall of his house and the collapse of the government by trying to summon and bind a demon in order to gain the ability to control how much happiness his subjects could feel. Mercutio failed in his quest, summoning but not binding the demon. Angered by the king’s arrogance, the demon cursed him and all those within Grimland to forget how to clear negative energy from objects and replace it with positive energy. Although the consequences were not immediately clear, about a year later, the entire kingdom was overrun by gremlins in an event known as the gremlin invasion and the old monarchy of Grimland had been completely wiped out. In the roughly 50 years since then, people have changed the name of the area to Gremland, and they have learned to tolerate the fact that nearly every object around them has an associated gremlin who is an expert in using that object to cause problems and annoy people.The remoteness of Gremland has made it difficult for both news of the gremlin infestation to spread and for people who are able to help to get there, making the gremlin issue somewhat difficult to solve. Most people, despite the gremlins, have no plans to leave the area. The people of Gremland are stubborn and somewhat fatalistic, meaning they see the gremlins as something to put up with or even something they deserve, hence the reluctance to leave. Additionally, there are two big economic reasons to stay in the area. The Fruitful Forest is able to produce large amounts of fruit year-round even though Gremland tends to see fairly harsh winters. The Gritville Mine produces magical diamonds that are able to reverse the rotting process after being powdered and heat-treated. These two resources are the primary exports of the area, keeping people in Gremland to harvest and mine them. Miners and fruit foragers still need food, clothes, and other goods, which keeps even more people in Gremland. Overall, it seems like the gremlin infestation changed Gremland, but by no means did it make it impossible to survive.
Random Encounter Tables
Magic and Technology: Like most societies of Tero, the availability of magic and technology varies based on several factors, but the main factor is wealth. The wealthy elites in the port city of Grimburg are able to afford magic and technology to bring their standard of living up to that of modern wealthy people in the real world. Technologies for industrial production of clothing, canned fruit, and the processed form of the magic diamonds from Gritville are at the level of the real world mid-19th century, allowing for the large-scale processing and export of these goods. For the most part, the mid-19th century western United States is a good parallel to the level of technology and type of society the smaller towns of Gremland present. These towns are able to import goods from elsewhere, but only at a high price, so most people have to rely on things that they can maintain and repair themselves. This makes whatever goods can be produced locally the least expensive and also the most important, since they are what people have to rely on if supply lines ever break down.
The importance of local goods is much less the case in Grimburg, which benefits from being a port city where the average person is much wealthier than in the surrounding towns and countryside. Because of this, and magic, Grimburg is much closer to an early 20th century city of the United States’ East Coast. Being a trade center as well as a clothing production center allows the people of Grimburg to display a level of outlandish fashion that draws disdain from the rest of Gremland. Ignoring this disdain, the upper classes of Gremland seem to have no issue wearing what they like while everyone else judges.
Universally, the gremlin invasion and subsequent infestation has had the greatest impact on technology. Gremlins have an easier time forming from and utilizing machinery and more complex objects, so the factories and mines that rely on technology are frequently close to overrun with gremlins. While people do their best to operate their machinery and perform their jobs, there is no doubt that production has declined in the previous 50 years as the problem has only become worse.
As far as magic goes, the only place in Gremland with an established school for teaching magic is Grimburg with the Grimburg Academy of Magical Arts. This school charges a high tuition that only allows the wealthiest people to attend, making magic much more common in Grimburg than anywhere else in Gremland. Most of the wealthy people of Gremland have spent some time learning at the academy, but most people stop after they learn the basics so they can return home and do something less difficult. This habit for the wealthy to send their children for what usually ends up being little more than a year of magical education has given the Grimburg Academy of Magical Arts a reputation as a bit of a joke, but the faculty there are actually fairly accomplished in spellcasting and enchanting. While there are not nearly enough of them to provide their services on a large scale to the people of Gremland, they provide a high quality of service to the people who they can help.
Outside of Grimburg, magic is rarely, if ever, used by the average person. While everyone is aware of the naturally occurring magic around them and the fact that more refined forms exist, most people outside of Grimburg are unable to afford enchanted items or the services of a mage. There are a few folk traditions of using specific plant and animal products to achieve certain effects, but nothing like the spellcasting one can learn at the academy in Grimburg. The wealthiest people in a given town probably spent some time at the Grimburg Academy, but how far they took their education varies based on individual interest. Other than the wealthy elites and the odd traveler, it is very rare for someone trained in any magical tradition to come through the countryside of Gremland. While some of the local religious groups count channelers among their number, none of them have a practice of sending their members out into the community to do good works, diminishing their influence in Gremland.
Society: Before the gremlin invasion and the fall of the monarchy, the Kingdom of Grimland had unified the area under a single government. The monarch would appoint a governor to each settlement who they could replace at will. Each governor’s job was to form a police force to enforce the monarch’s laws and to create an administrative team to collect taxes and keep track of finances. While most means of production were and are collectively owned, the monarchy only ever allowed this under a tax system which siphoned off a percentage of the gross income of any settlement’s industry. Today, with the absence of the monarchy or a unifying government, almost all of this original system remains intact, the taxes on a town’s income just go directly to the governors, who have made their positions hereditary. While this decision was generally unpopular, the police forces all sided with their employers and ensured the governorship passed on to the eldest child after each governor died. Pretty much every town or city in Gremland today is now on its second or third generation of hereditary governors, and people are generally accepting of the new status quo. That said, not all of the people who have inherited their position are very good at their job and while previously the monarch would replace such governors, it is now up to the people to overthrow bad leaders.
Generally, the people of Gremland have learned to tolerate the constant presence of gremlins, many of them having given up all hope of the infestation ever being cleared. In this fatalistic attitude, the people of Gremland have found a tremendous sense of stubbornness that serves them well in their gremlin-infested land. People tend to be willing to stick to a task even though every step of the way will be hindered by gremlins, and many people seem to do things just to spite the gremlins that will harass them. This can be seen at all levels of society, with endurance and patience upheld as important traits for everyone to cultivate within themselves. While devotion to these societal ideals varies a lot from person to person, most people in Gremland would say the defining traits of their culture are a focus on endurance, perseverance, and patience. As a result, many people like to socialize by playing games and holding contests that emphasize endurance and pain tolerance, exemplified by the most popular sport in Gremland, shin kicking.
While there aren’t really any purpose-built venues for shin kicking, competitions are usually held in large, open, public spaces along with other contests. Most years, about one full week around the solstices and equinoxes is devoted to festivals and competitions, most of these either beginning or ending with big shin kicking tournaments. Shin kicking itself involves two people, barefoot, standing in front of each other with their hands on each other’s shoulders. When the referee gives the word, the two competitors are to begin kicking each other in the shins as hard and as often as they can until either one of them submits or one of them can no longer stand. No padding of any sort is allowed, not even clothing, and anything other than straight kicks to the fronts of the shins can get a competitor disqualified from the competition. Shin kicking, like any popular game or sport, is mostly played as a friendly competition between pals and can be encountered everywhere from the back alleys of Grimburg, to the woods around Roughton, and even at high society events. Shin kicking truly unites all the classes of Gremland.
Religion: While there are several religious orders that maintain a presence in Gremland, most of the population has little involvement with any kind of organized religion. While there is a set of spiritual beliefs and practices that most people in Gremland adhere to, it is a very loose system in which the people who feel called to become shamans in the Gremland tradition must do so in their spare time. Generally, people see the 4 cosmic planes of alignment as pillars supporting the prime material plane. All things in the material plane have an aura or spirit that can be more aligned with one of these pillars than the others. Shamans are people who choose to act as intermediaries between people, spirits, and the 4 cosmic planes. Additionally, shamans are able to give people advice on how to align themselves more with one plane over the other, and they are able to lead funeral processions and then perform the death rites necessary to inter someone in the Grand Mausoleum. Generally, shamans are well-meaning people who are a bit more sensitive to the supernatural than others, doing more good than bad.
The only other major religious group in Gremland are the teroists of the Order of the Bountiful Branch, who live in and maintain the Temple of the Fruitful Tree. Teroism, the religion of the teroists, is present in many parts of the world and is primarily defined by its veneration of the planet Tero itself. Referring to the planet as “the Great Mother,” teroists are split into many different sects and orders, each one based on cultivating and growing a specific kind of natural resource to offset what less mindful people around the world will use. The order of the Bountiful Branch, in this theme, venerates fruit trees and the food they provide. About 500 years ago, the order established its temple in what was then Grimland and began their work. The order maintains a small grove of fruit trees within its walls which it uses as the source plants for all of the seeds they plant in the surrounding area. After hundreds of years of spreading fruit seeds, the Order of the Bountiful Branch has created the Fruitful Forest which now supports Roughton and the fruit foraging and canning that keeps the town alive. Most people, however, are unaware of this and consider the Fruitful Forest to be a natural oddity, which the teroists of the temple are perfectly happy to let people think. The Order of the Bountiful Branch uses their obscurity to their advantage, growing several magical fruit trees whose seeds they have never planted outside of their temple. These trees produce magical fruits with many strange and powerful properties, but these secret fruits are only available to teroists of the Order of the Bountiful Branch. Teroism provides a ritual to cleanse a small area of gremlins, so the temple is free from the infestation. Unfortunately for the rest of Gremland, the teroists are too focused on tending their orchard and spreading seeds to really care about the greater gremlin infestation. While they certainly could alleviate some of the gremlin problems in Gremland, that would take away from the much more important tasks they are charged with.
Towns and Cities: Ever since the fall of the monarchy, the settlements of Gremland have been self-governed by hereditary lines of governors, each line descended from whoever was the governor when the monarchy fell. Under the Grimland monarchs, each settlement’s governor was responsible for organizing their own administrators and police forces, so without the monarchs there not much changed. The biggest difference has been that the governors, their families, and their friends have become much more wealthy off of the taxes that no longer go to the crown. Other than that, ending the threat of removal by the monarch has caused a general decrease in unity and stability, but most people blame that on the gremlins and move on. Overall, relationships between the towns and cities have been consistent and peaceful since the monarchy fell, but some people feel that it’s only a matter of time before the governor of Grimburg decides to extend their control over one of the smaller towns. This undercurrent of mistrust, along with mutual disdain based on fashion and culture, seems to be the source of a growing rift between Grimburg and the rest of Gremland that is growing wider every year. While all of the settlements rely on each other for important trade goods and supplies, this rift may cause conflict in the future. Until then, the governors of each settlement try to keep in contact and have regular meetings to discuss the state of Gremland and what they can do to help each other. Often, these meetings devolve into arguing over why Grimburg can’t do more to help out, but they still happen regardless.
Other than meeting with their colleagues, the governors are each responsible for leading the police forces and administrative teams of their respective settlements. Today, pretty much all of the governors are using the same systems that their predecessors used, which in turn had been the standard systems for hundreds of years under the Grimland monarchy. The police are overseen by the chief of police, who hires several captains and many officers. Captains lead shifts of up to several dozen officers, who do different things depending on any number of factors. The governor sets the big picture goals for what laws and policies to enforce on a day-to-day basis, leading to a lot of variability in an otherwise standard system. Each settlement has its own rules and the governor of each town and city wants their officers enforcing those diverse rules differently. One town may have its officers patrol regularly and proactively try to prevent harm to others while another town may only send out teams of officers when they are called on to assist in a situation. Either way, police forces tend to be fiercely loyal to their governors, acting as the first line of defense if their home is attacked and making sure the next person in line for governor actually gets to take their position when the time comes.
Keeping track of who is next in line for the governorship is the administrative team, an important part of every town’s structure. While the scope and scale of the administrative duties can vary a lot, the constant factor seems to be that the administrative team of a given settlement is always keeping a close eye on how much a town is earning in order to calculate taxes. Settlements in Gremland operate on a system where gross income of an entire industry is taxed, so most admins spend their time making sure their export records are accurate. Each town may or may not offer additional administrative services to the general public, but for the most part, these groups are focused on taxation. The administrative team will work together with the police force to act as judge in criminal cases, but it is the police who perform investigations, arrest criminals, and operate jails, making the administrative role in the process somewhat small. Administrators are often loyal to their governors, acting as trusted councilors and workers for the governors they serve.
Grimburg
Governor: Poppy Sweetwater
Chief Administrator: Chantal Papier
Chief of Police: Mortimer Magnus
Garrison: 100 police officers, 6 detectives
Primary Industry: Clothing, Imports, Exports
Population: 20,000 People
Details: Grimburg, the only city in Gremland, is an important port for the region, processing most of the goods from Gremland prior to being exported to the rest of the world. While there are many docks, warehouses, and shops to work in, the real backbone of industry in the city is its clothing industry. While the gremlin invasion has certainly made the continuation of this industry difficult, Grimburg continues to produce most of the clothing that people in Gremland and the surrounding areas of the Shattered Mountains wear on a daily basis. Most people are too busy working to make their own clothes, so the industrial might of Grimburg is put towards producing garments to clothe people in the area. Poppy Sweetwater is fairly proud of her city and its garment industry. Additionally, she does her best to support the merchants, traders, and shippers that contribute so much to the City's wealth. Usually, Poppy runs a fairly open and democratic government, although she has no explicit obligations to do so and could tighten her control over the city at any time. Grimburg's wealth as well as Governor Sweetwater's patronage have allowed the fashion industry to explode into full-blown artistry, with opulent fashion shows displaying spectacular outfits that could never be worn in any practical setting. The elites of the city also tend to wear more colorful and elaborate clothes than those in the smaller towns of Gremland, leading to a perception of people from Grimburg being opulent, debaucherous, and shallow. While this is not true of all residents, the perception leads to tension between Grimburg and the rest of Grimland. There is also the only place in Gremland for teaching magic, the Grimburg Academy of Magical Arts. This school charges a high tuition that only allows the wealthiest people to attend, making magic much more common in Grimburg than anywhere else in Gremland. Most of the wealthy people of Gremland have spent some time learning at the academy, but most people stop after they learn the basics so they can return home and do something less difficult. Because of this, the academy does not have a very strong reputation, despite a dedicated and skilled faculty.
Salton
Governor: Bonnie Vine
Chief Administrator: Clyde Bolly
Chief of Police: Vincent Fisher
Garrison: 15 police officers, 1 detective
Primary Industry: Fishing, Cattle Ranching
Population: 3,000 people
Details: This fishing village is the northernmost settlement in Gremland, sitting on the edge of the Salty Pastures. Although only about 3,000 people live here, they are able to pull enough fish from the Bay Between the Tines to supply the rest of Gremland, preserving their catch with sea salt before sending it to the larger world. Most people seem satisfied with their lot in life, and the governor, Bonnie Vine, treats people well. While the gremlin infestation has still come to Salton, the overall contentness of the population resulted in the town being affected far less than the others. In addition to fish, Salton also exports a decent amount of beef, although only a handful of people in town are involved in that. Governor Vine owns a herd of nearly 3,000 cattle which she sends out into the Salty Pastures to graze, along with a few hired hands to keep the herd from wandering too far afield and to bring them to the stock yards near Salton during the winter. There have always been rumors that Bonnie is a powerful spellcaster who secretly turns criminals with the death penalty into cows in her herd, but the governor has always dismissed these tales as nonsense.
Roughton
Governor: Claudia Strongseed
Chief Administrator: Charlene Ledger
Chief of Police: Carlotta Foley
Garrison: 25 police officers, 2 detectives
Primary Industry: Fruit Foraging, Fruit Canning
Population: 5,000 people
Details: Roughton, named after the rough bark on the surrounding trees, is a decent-sized village on the southwest edge of the Fruitful Forest. This village boasts a population of nearly 5,000 people, most of whom are either fruit foragers or fruit canners. About half of the town's workers go out into the woods to pick fruit every day, and the other half take that fruit and preserve it in glass jars so it can be shipped all over the world. There is some tension between the two groups of workers based on who gets paid more and who is perceived to have the easier job. The town's governor, Claudia Strongseed, was a fruit forager before an unprecedented string of deaths left her as the only heir to the governor's seat, leading to frequent accusations of favoritism towards the foragers. The canners threaten to revolt any time Claudia makes an unpopular decision, which always causes Claudia to walk her decision back. Foragers are upset because this state of affairs means that things regularly favor the canners, leading to a lot of conflict between the two groups. Not wanting her own base to turn on her, Claudia has turned a blind eye to violence from the foragers towards the canners, and she does the same for violence going the other way to avoid riots from the canners. The end result is a town shaken by the battles between the two professions. This has of course done nothing but exasperate the gremlin infestation in the town.
Gritville
Governor: Karl Green
Chief Administrator: Michael Graph
Chief of Police: Stephany Ginsberg
Garrison: 10 police officers, 1 detective
Primary Industry: Magic Diamond Mining
Population: 2,000 people
Details: A small town near the headwaters of the Fork River, pretty much everyone in town makes their living by working in the local diamond mine. The diamonds from the Gritville mine have the magical ability to revert rotten food to fresh food after being powdered, heat treated, and sprinkled on the rotten food in question. Gritville itself has about 2,000 residents, most of whom are somewhat superstitious, believing that the Old Gritville Mine is haunted after an accident that closed the mine about 100 years ago. Despite this, their governor, Karl Green, is a very serious man who does not believe in things that he cannot see with his own eyes. The gremlin infestation has tested Karl's resolve and made using the mining equipment quite dangerous. Many people don't think the governor is doing enough to keep the miners safe in light of the gremlin infestation. In response, Karl has instituted a curfew and banned gatherings of 5 people or more rather than actually try to solve the issue. These new policies have been highly unfavorable with the residents of Gritville, but Karl seems to show no signs of stopping any time soon.
Rough Timeline
2,500 years ago- people first arrive in what is now Gremland
1,000 years ago- Gremland, at the time called Grimland, is unified by Mildred the General, the first member of the Grimland monarchy
500 years ago- The Order of the Bountiful Branch establishes the Temple of the Fruitful Tree to cultivate fruit trees
50 years ago- Mercutio the Last botches a demon binding and gets all knowledge on how to get rid of gremlins removed from Gremland
48 years ago- The Grimland monarchy collapses as the gremlin invasion reaches its peak
30 years ago- The Order of Linked Rings forms in the gremlin-infested Ancient Fort
There are several groups that have considerable resources at their disposal in Gremland. While they may not have much importance on a global scale, each of these groups are important players in local affairs.
Towns and Cities- Each settlement in Gremland truly represents a faction of its own, but they all share a few key features. Each one is led by a hereditary governor with absolute control over anything that happens in the city or town they control. This despotic nature is a relatively recent development but the police forces, organized and paid by the governors, support the regimes and enforce the governors’ rules. Nothing too authoritarian has happened in any of the settlements, so the people are generally fine with the new political arrangement. Each town and city has a primary industry that the majority of residents are involved in. While other industries are present, these primary industries dominate the local cultures and define settlement identities, among other traits. Most of the settlements are in an uneasy peace with each other, but there is growing paranoia that Grimburg will make a move to conquer one of the smaller towns in the near future. While normal citizens are expected to take up arms to defend their homes if it comes to it, it is understood that those on the police forces are the first line of armed defense for each town or city.
The Order of the Bountiful Branch- This religious order of the Teroist faith is concerned with protecting their sacred temple orchard and spreading the seeds of their trees in the Fruitful Forest. They are generally uninterested with sharing anything other than the seeds they plant in the outside world, keeping anyone who is not a member of their faith out of their temple entirely. Other teroists may enter the temple, wander the sacred orchard, and even pick a few fruits, but only fully initiated members of the Order of the Bountiful Branch may enter the inner temple or even know about the secret, magic fruit trees the order cares for. The only way for outsiders to get inside the Temple of the Fruitful Tree is to make a commitment to join the religion and take on the task of learning their sacred traditions, practices, and beliefs before being initiated and joining a teroist order such as the Order of the Bountiful Branch. There are always a small number of novice teroists undergoing this process at the Temple of the Fruitful Tree, but they rarely leave the inner temple.
The Order of Linked Rings- This group of warriors is small and obscure, having about a dozen members. The order is based out of the Ancient Fort on the western end of the Infested Ridge which most people in Gremland assume is abandoned. In the fort, the Order of Linked Rings spends their days exercising, meditating, and practicing their unique fighting style. Warriors of the order fight with iron balls on the ends of 10ft chains, the chains themselves made of circular iron rings. In following an ascetic lifestyle, cultivating loyalty to each other, and martial arts prowess, the order believes they will gain a spiritual purity that allows them to freely align with whatever cosmic plane they wish. Generally, they have found success in their goals and are some of the most fearsome fighters in Gremland. They do not generally perform any kind of outreach, preferring to let people come to them through fate.
Gremland Shamans- There are some among the people of Gremland who feel a certain affinity with the supernatural side of life. These people, in their spare time, frequently become initiated as shamans in the tradition of Gremland Shamans. While not having any kind of organization or uniting theology, these shamans act as the main religious and spiritual agents of Gremland. These shamans are knowledgeable in the spirits and rituals of the area, doing what they can to help people deal with the everyday problems supernatural forces can cause. Furthermore, these shamans can use their connection to the spiritual world to give people advice on personal issues, helping them to be more aligned with the cosmic planes that will be most useful to the individual. Shamans also serve an important function for the end of life as well. It is the duty of Gremland Shamans to lead funeral processions, speaking specific prayers as the procession crosses Funeral Bridge and as it climbs up the stairs of the Grand Mausoleum. At the top, it is the shaman’s duty to perform specific rituals to ensure the casket is properly incorporated into the mausoleum. Gremland Shamans are far from a cohesive group, the only unifying factor being that they generally want to help others in whatever small way they can. Shamans can come from any walk of life, and their goals outside of their shamanic pursuits can be just about anything.
Gremlins- Gremlins are the creatures born from negative emotions being directed at inanimate objects. In Gremland, almost all knowledge on how to prevent and get rid of gremlins has been lost, leading to an infestation across the entire region. While gremlins are not necessarily unified in their goals, they all have the innate desire to use the items they are associated with to bother people, increasing the negative emotions directed at their objects and helping the gremlins grow stronger. Sometimes gremlins have been seen working together to reach these goals, but they generally seem to act solo. While they have no greater goals beyond growing their individual power, the gremlins represent a universal problem for the people of Gremland.
The Interplanetary League of Exotic Game Hunters and Trappers- Operating out of the Interplanetary Hunting Lodge, which itself is one of many on Tero alone, is a group of mysterious people who seem to come to Gremland only to hunt big game. The area is known for having particularly large wyverns with shiny black scales, and they are a popular target species for members of the league. Many of the people who utilize the Interplanetary Hunting Lodge have come from other planets and paid large sums of money for the privilege. Because of this, outsiders are excluded from the lodge and kept in the dark as to the true nature of the building.
- The ghost of Governor Sweetwater's recently deceased father has been seen on Funeral Bridge by several people, apparently looking towards Grimburg every time. This has deepened the divide between the smaller towns and the city, with many taking this as a sign that the spirit of the prior governor disapproves of the recent trend towards opulence in Grimburg.
- Governor Green of Gritville has instituted martial law over complaints that he is not doing enough to protect miners from gremlin-based hazards. None of the other governors are willing to do anything so as to avoid setting a precedent for directly intervening in each other's affairs, but many regular citizens seem willing to support a hypothetical revolt in Gritville.
- Foragers in Roughton are going missing in large enough numbers that some people are refusing to enter the Fruitful Forest. Rumors are spreading about a group of violent creatures living in the forest who are responsible for the disappearances, although there is little evidence for this.
- There have been a series of explosions at fruit canning facilities in Roughton. While these attacks happen at night and no one has been injured, this is an escalation from the usual street brawls between fruit canners and fruit foragers. The canners are demanding that Governor Strongseed find and punish the bombers, and the foragers, her main supporters, will most likely turn on the governor if she does.
- A few survivors have recently returned to Grimburg from their attempt to access the Great Vault and claim the treasure for themselves. The survivors say that although they made it to the vault, the protective spells and traps wiped everyone out before they even saw the door to the vault.
- Governor Vine of Salton has decided to fund an expedition to take the Gremlin's Bane from the Ancient Watchtower. Applicants must go to Salton for a personal interview with the governor, and if accepted into the expedition's forces, they can expect all of the equipment they will need, craftsfolk to help maintain it, and all the beef they can eat for the duration of their service.
No comments:
Post a Comment