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"Never say die!"
@Edwin Voskamp's AD&D Game: Freehold History
Being a History of the Rise of Freehold
The Founding
In days long past, the Plains of the Miramar were inhabited by a number of humans
who lived in tents and followed a nomadic lifestyle. The plains themselves were prime living territory,
bordered on the South by the Forest of Loran and on the East by the Mountains of Mandorim.
The nomads went from place to place following the herds of buffalo that they fed on.
As time passed, some of the nomads moved to a agricultural lifestyle
and a small city sprung up in a slight bowl in the ground with a large natural harbor.
The first ship sailed and discovered a settled archipelago to the West and set up trade for rare
and unusual items between the two.
The inhabitants of this
city dubbed it "Freehold" and it served as a central place for trading among the
various clans. Slowly the reach and power of the city expanded, and the clans
were driven back from the Coast as farmers took over the arable land near
Freehold and grew crops to feed the people who settled there. These farmers were
aided by Priests and Druids of Sylvestus.
Freehold encouraged "adventurers" to settle there
by providing a formal marketplace for them to sell their services to the merchants as guards
and in other roles that required specialized their skills.
Legend has it that a small adventuring party, possibly the first in recorded history,
founded the Protector's Guild and enforced access to the Merchant's Guild.
The Protector's Guild grew into the ruling council of the city,
but that is getting ahead of the narrative.
All these events are many thousands of years in the past, and veiled in mists of legend.
If the truth is known, it is known by the longer lived races and the rulers of the city,
who are rumoured to have an extensive archive of these events.
War of the Clans
Eventually, the clans
had a bitter internal war over the role of Freehold in the future of the area.
Some felt that Freehold served a benefit, despite the encroachment on their
territory. Other felt that Freehold had to go and the land returned to its
pastoral state.
When the war began, the Protector's Guild issued an ultimatum, "Fight for Freehold or die."
The adventurers who earned their livings in Freehold, without exception, fought.
With the aid of experienced elite groups trained to work together,
the allied clans were able to drive their opponents through a pass in the Mountains
(now called the Pass of Bones) to other fields east of the mountains.
Relations have been strained at best between the Outriders (who call themselves the Plainswind League)
and the Freeholders.
To this day, the Pass of Bones remains a contested area and heavily patrolled by
both sides.
The Rebellion of Granastus
The Dwarves of Mandorim
watched the battle but chose not to participate. When it was resolved, some of
the more greedy or adventuresome dwarves came from their cities and found a
trade town, Mandoralia, where they sold their goods.
In time a small city came to be found on the route between Freehold and the mountains.
It is called Granastus and is the midpoint of the 50 mile journey from Freehold to Mandoralia.
There are a number of traders who do not make the full journey from town to town
and instead ply their wares in Granastus, serving as middlemen.
Twohundred years ago, Granastus sought to remove the Protector's Guild,
now serving as the rulers of Freehold.
The scorched and salted farmlands to the North of the city attest to their lack of success in that area.
Some of the older Dwarf traders still remember those days and refer to them as "that unpleasant time".
Humans have a reminder, but there are none left who remember the days before the
Protector's Guild exerted absolute power of the Plains of Miramar.
Expansion of Freehold
After this event, the Protector's Guild began a campaign to build a series of towers and trade towns.
Each of these towers is housed 5 miles from the next, and most have a small trade town.
A webwork of roads runs over the plains connecting these towns.
The towers are owned by senior members of the Protector's Guild,
who are responsible for maintaining order in their area.
In a standard feudal arrangement, certain towers are larger and house more troops and a Protector of greater power.
For 50 miles in any direction from Freehold, the towers of the Guild stand,
keeping law and order and expanding the grip of civilization.
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I attended a bullwhip handling seminar given by Gery L. Deer in Ann Arbor, organised by a friend of mine who had seen Gery perform at a local Science Fiction convention. Since I have practiced diligently and acquired two more whips: it is boatloads of fun!
I have been running my new game settings, based on my serial campaign concept,
as well as have complete websites: ShadowWorld Mainline, ShadowWorld WWII and Grand Design.
I am working on a new current day ShadowWorld setting, with a new, entirely different cosmology.
More ...
Underworld, though laying claim to prior use,
was renamed to ShadowWorld in the summer of 2002,
to avoid confusion with earlier published role playing games with same or similar names.
It was moved to its own website.
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