Monday, February 1, 2010

Skla & The Demon Wastes

The Verdant Lands of Skla

A land of perpetual moist fog, Skla is full of vegetation-encrusted steep eroded mountain spires with deep valleys between. Located in its depths is Akhtor-Skla, a land inhabited by a society of eccentric Bone Man Sorcerers who live in isolated pagoda-villas. They are said to be masters of subtle strategy, poisoning, chess and tea.

For reasons unknown British servicemen from World Wars I & II keep on appearing in Skla, and have founded a settlement, Fort Churchill. The Bone Sorcerers of Akhntor-Skla are reputed to find these Earth Men amusing.

The Demon Wastes

A torrid badland home to city-states tens of thousands of years old, which are all societies of fanatical followers of the Lords of Change. As a result this a culture of cruelty, violence, selfishness, and insanity. Somehow powerful noble houses have emerged from this, the Demon Barons.

It is said that the city-states of the Demon Wastes were founded by and are secretly ruled by Demons. Regardless, consorting with Demons and the blackest of sorcery is tolerated and even encouraged in the Demon Wastes, and many sorcerers, chaotic and otherwise, travel to the city-states of the Demon Waste in order to acquire incantations, lore and artifacts. Slaves are always in demand in this cruel land, and many slaver caravans make the dangerous trek to trade for the orange gold of the Demon Barons.

The geography of the Demon Wastes includes rocky and sandy desert, badlands, jagged mountains, salt pans, tar pits, hot springs and active volcanoes.

9 comments:

  1. Captain Walker didn't come home?

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  2. Back of the net, shot lad !

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  3. Curse you, I daydreamed of Bone-men wearing cricket whites, playing against Fort Churchill's finest.

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  4. The imagery of British servicemen contending with transparent-skinned freaks is savory. I can't help but picture wrecked English aircraft, overgrown with vegetation.

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  5. "and over here we have an island inhabited by Cockney orphans"

    @SeanWill Is Fort Churchill "authentic" sounding?

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  6. Absolutely old chap! Full of David Niven types, forever marching and being terribly chipper about the whole blasted situation, with Michael Caine types doing dodgy deals and squiring the local skirt.

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  7. I know that they're trying to distill an alternative to "the beastly local gin."

    Morale: 12
    Alignment: Lawful

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  8. "A torrid badland home to city-states tens of thousands of years old, which are all societies of fanatical followers of the Lords of Change."

    Haha!

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  9. @huth: Is it the terrible sentence structure or the tens-of-thousands year old cities of chaos worshipers?

    Your artwork is fantastic BTW.

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