So, a number of years ago, I started writing some books for Hackmaster. I started with Two Tales of Tellene, a PWYW pair of short stories. I also wrote the Traveller's Companion to the Shadesh West, of which Book 1 and Book 2 have been released.
But I also wrote SO MUCH more. Three books since Shadesh West, that I'm going to share over the next couple of months. The first is a companion to Shadesh West, called "Krond Heights and Goblin Deeps", which develops the... wait for it... Krond Heights, and the Goblin Kingdom beneath them.
Krond Heights and Goblin Deeps
Between the Shadesh West and northern Cosdol lie the Krond Heights. They are the northern reach of the mountain chain that includes the Legasa Peaks and the Elenon Mountains, with the only delineation between them and the Legasas being P’Bapar Pass. South of the Pass are the Legasa Peaks; north of that pass are the Krond Heights. The Krond Heights were home to the first and greatest of the Dwarven Kingdoms. But the dwarves have long since left those halls, thrown out by the goblins who backed, then assassinated, Kruk-ma-kali. Never tamed, they hold secrets of ancient days, and are home to demi-gods best forgotten.
Today, the goblins of the Krond Heights rule a vast underworld at the borders of the Netherdeep. Fed by slaves brought from the lowlands and bred in darkness, the Great Goblin King’s domain crouches in the ruins of the old dwarven kingdom. Dwarven tradeways ring with goblin voices and the riches of the Krond Heights are plundered by the pickaxes of slaves bred to unending darkness. Above, giants rule the peaks, hunting yeti and bear for sport and food, and exacting tribute from any who live in the valleys. In their steadings and citadels, they war over territory and vassals, trading foodstuffs with the goblins below for iron and gold.
The Lands Above: Ecology and Geography of the Krond Heights
The Krond Heights (as considered here) extend about 350 miles north to south, and 70 miles east to west; with their foothills, they extend double that east and west, in the Shashyf and Sanakir Hills to the east, and the Odrill Hills to the west. While some peaks in the range top 20,000 feet, most of the region is only 10-15,000 feet high, and the lowest areas about 5,000 feet. The highest peaks house glaciers, source of much of the fresh water on either side of the mountains, with the largest glacier birthing more than a dozen rivers that flow down to the salt lake, called Lake Vrasten after an early Brandobian explorer.
With the long expanse and great variation in altitude, it is unsurprising that the Krond Heights tend to be cold, with highs in the summers only about 70 degrees (approximately 20 degrees Celsius), and lows in the winter near -15 degrees Fahrenheit (-10 degrees Celsius). Obviously, the further north and the further up one goes, the colder this becomes, but the average temperature is freezing every month from Reaping to Mustering, and freezes might happen in Declarations and mid-Arid.
Above nine to eleven thousand feet, much of the terrain is frozen, and tundra when it is not actively under snow. Only thin topsoil clings to the mountainsides, washing into the valleys below. The valleys frequently see only indirect sun for much of the year; the sun hangs low in the winter, and might not clear the mountains, and the furious light of summer can make it difficult to warm the cold bones of the mountains. Much of the vegetation, therefore, is sparse and low, with trees in the valleys reaching higher to try to absorb more light. In the higher meadows, covered by snow much of the year, hardy grass and quick-growing flowers make up the brief plant life.
Herbivores in the mountains include llamas, alpacas, and other wild breeds related to them. There are a number of species of ground squirrel and related rodents, rabbits and rabbit-like creatures like the al-miraj and the skvader, as well as deer, elk, and moose at lower altitudes. On the western side, there are some wild horses and avledor, but the wargs of the eastern side have wiped those out. On the east, there are more giant goats and their smaller kin, plus some wild sheep, descended from those who escaped Baparan shepherds. In addition, there are any number of seed-eating birds, though insectivores are relatively rare (as are insects).
Larger predators include brown, black, grizzly, and short-faced bears, wolves and dire wolves, mountain lions and lynx. Wolverines and other mustelids are surprisingly common for an area with no gnomish population. Crows, ravens, raptors, owls and scowls cover much of the predatory bird life. More exotic beasts include wyverns, skitter rats, peryton, and a grand variety of spiders. In the river valleys, saw-backed lungers proliferate, and slushies, frore wolves, and snow snakes haunt the regions nearer the glaciers.
Altitude Sickness
Generally, ascension of mountains in Tellene is slow enough to avoid the worst effects of altitude sickness; unless you’re carried away by a roc or wvyern, you’re unlikely to climb three or four thousand feet in a day, and then altitude tends to be the least of your worries. However, altitude sickness does happen, and mostly manifests as a penalty to fatigue. Characters who are not acclimated to the heights should roll d20+racial modifier to Constitution v. d20+(1 per 5000 feet). The difference between these two is the penalty to fatigue tests taken until the character is acclimated. Acclimation takes 1 day per point of penalty, or 2 points of penalty per day if the character goes on complete rest, doing little more than sitting, talking, and going to the can.
If the character rolls a natural 1 on their saving throw, they suffer more severe penalties for this ascension; in addition to fatigue penalties, they will suffer Migranes, as the Flaw, until completely acclimated. If the character’s die is a one, AND the opposing die is also a 20, then the character is suffering from hypoxia from the high altitude, and effectively suffocating. For every day at altitude, the character will lose 5 fractional points of Constiution (0/05), and suffer a 1d3p-1 point wound from hemmoraging (this is in addition to Migranes). Retreating to the last acclimated level will halt, but not reverse, the damage. Fatigue penalties acquired will have to be rested away. Attempting the ascent at a later date will allow a new saving throw, but any penalties to Constitution acquired from altitude sickness will serve as a modifier to all subsequent altitude sickness checks.
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Sidebar:
Altitude Sickness Example
Ada the Dwarf and Bare the Elf visit a location that is 13,000 up in the mountains. Ada will roll d20p+4 v. d20p+3, as being a dwarf provides her a +4 Constitution bonus. Bare will roll d20p-4 (due to being an elf) against the same amount. Ada rolls 14 v. the mountain’s 9, while Bare rolls 4 v. the mountain’s 23. Ada will be unaffected by the altitude, while Bare will have a 19 point penalty to fatigue to overcome, either with 19 days of light duty, or with nine and a half days of rest. Since neither rolled a natural 1, neither will have migranes; the natural 20 on Bare’s mountain roll does not trigger a fatal response, as Bare did not roll a natural 1.
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The Lands Below: Ecology of the Goblin Deeps
The Goblin Deeps maintain a fairly steady temperature of about 40-50 degrees Fahrenheit (5-10 degrees Celsius). As one near the exits from the Long Dark, these temperatures move more towards the outside temperature which, in the Krond Heights, are usually colder than the air of the caves. There is significant humidity in the Deeps, and this combination leads to a prevalence for thick clothing, the equivalent of winter wear for the surface. While the air is often very still by above-ground standards, currents and eddies do exist, and careful observation with bare skin will note these (and, often, that it is really too cold and wet in this cave to be bare).
***
Sidebar:
New Talent: Temperature Tolerance (10+ BP)
Your character is exceptionally well adapted to either the cold or the heat, treating ambient temperatures as 10 degrees warmer or colder than they actually are. For a cold-adapted character, this means that winter clothing would need to be worn beginning at approximately 30 degrees Fahrenheit, arctic at -10, and polar at -30 degrees. For a heat-adapted character, fatigue penalties begin at 90 degrees Fahrenheit, but proceed every 5 degrees thereafter. This talent does not provide any protection against fire (mundane or magical) or magical cold.
A single purchase of this talent only protects against one temperature extreme, heat or cold; purchasing the talent a second time will cost 20 BP and protect against the other. It may not be taken multiple times to provide double protection against the cold or heat. Grel may not purchase the Cold Tolerance version of this Talent.
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The Deeps are shot through with water, pooling and seeping through the rock, or flowing in channels and streams through the caves. In many places, if there is a pool, there will be fish of some sort, or small crustaceans, or, more rarely, amphibians. As plants cannot grow in the dark, much of their position in the wheel of life is taken by fungi and slime molds, which grow in abundance. Especially important are a variety of slime molds known as “respirators”, which digest carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide and expel oxygen. Though hardy, destruction of these molds can have dangerous effects on the cave air; a fireball that fills a cavern will not only deplete the immediate oxygen, but also destroy the respirators, so the area will take longer to recover from the “foul air”. Those respirators will recover, in time, but they grow slowly.
Related to these respirators and fungi are giant ameboas, corrosive oozes, flesh-eating slimes, slushies, molds, and screecher fungi. Giant ants and arakian both carve out tunnels in the rock, with giant ants preferring areas closer to the surface, where there is more soil. Through the caves, pit howlers, titanic worms, and massive centipedes hunt, as do aquatic hydras, flailing snails, glow worms, and distinctly subterranean creatures like stony ensnarers, skivers, and the subterranean whisp. Nearer to goblin cities, such urban creatures as rats (including massive and oliphant), stercuses, muck men, and rooftop prowlers can be found.
Next post: Humanoid and Political Geography of the Krond Heights and Goblin Deeps, including "The Difference between Humanoids and Demi-Humans."
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