The Kingdom Wrapped in Fog
A spur of the moment vignette setting for Fantasy RPGs
Multiple inspirations to this setting idea. Mostly it is a desire of mine to have just almost throwoff, odd little gaming settings for people to use and enjoy. Parts and elements are pulled from other ideas, and will be recycled into future ideas and products.
This is being put together in a single night, and put up as finished as it will be in a few hours of creating.
Thanks to Eric F for his posting of the town he lives in as a megadungeon, another inspiration for The Kingdom Wrapped in Fog.
His creation is at
Key Flavor Words (Many Pulled from Art Journal Magazine)
B & W
Writing / Words
Hobo Signs / Symbols
Magic / Digital / Web
Broadsheets
Shanty / Rickety
Pale Flesh (Skin)
New England Small Towns
Imbalance
Footsteps fading away
Fog
Threads & Stitches
Tarot
Court Suit Cards
Blue
CP (Cyberpunk)
Hopeless Dreams
Procedural / Bureaucracy
Cracked Cobblestones
Distress
Mirrors
Razors and Scalpels
Museums and Art
True Detective (First Season)
For GMs use the above list of words to inspire your adventures
The Setting in brief
About 25 years ago the fog came and has not left. The city was enveloped in the fog and it has not entirely lifted since. The city continued, life continues. Since then other changes have come about, new races and beings, advances in magical technologies, the discovery of gunpowder and the subsequent development of firearms, inspired it is said by fevered dreams of a dead madman.
The city is surrounded by vast forests, with a deep ocean a short river barge ride away. Never a center for trade, it does export wood and timber, along with charcoal, to distant lands and parts. A wide slow moving river flows out from the distant mountains, through the forest and past the northside of the city, ending in a small harbor several miles away.
The city is mostly small wooden structures, two or perhaps three stories in height, cobbled stone streets and narrow alleys between dwellings. Along the river are lots of warehouses, with logs coming down from the forest freshly cut and ready to be shipped outward.
Farms exist on the top of buildings, along the outer edge of the city, in clearings out in the forest as well. Most of the crops grown are large mushrooms to provide food for the city. Most plants do not do well in the unrelenting fog making the fungals options the best choice for the population. Imports from distant lands help to supplement the bland diet, along with strange herbs and spices found and discovered in the forest.
It is laid out in a generally north and south orientation. The area along the river is the main industrial, with water wheels providing motive power for the burgeoning industries and Tinner factories. Abutting that section of the city are slums and shanties that give way to nicer dwellings. The south side of the city, farthest away from the river, is where the largest and most affluent homes are located at. Often surrounded by large stone fences with hired private security to protect their property and interests.
The western side of the city is where the forest cutters, military forces, charcoal burners and fungus farmers all live, work, and have their social lives at. The easternmost part of the city is within a few miles of the river and contains most of the city government buildings as well as the constabulary and militia buildings.
Scattered over the entire city are bars, hostels, places to eat, small merchants, craftsmen, and all the other necessities that a large scale city needs to survive and have its population thrive.
Races Present in The City
Humans are the predominant force here, making up a good 70% of the total population.
Changelings (as per the ARG) are on the rise, coming from human families and finding out their reality at majority. They are about 5% of the population.
Tieflings are another race that are on the increase, as their mature also they find out their true reality. They are about 5% of the population.
Tinners are a construct race created in the last several decades, used mostly for manual labor, but they are autonomous and are almost 15% of the population with more every day. (Look for these in a future post)
A fifth race has recently started to make a presence known here in the city. They call themselves Sidhe and they are a long lived, proud and noble race. (Use stats for Elves, or High Elves if such applies to your game). They are about 5% of the population.
Some core setting concepts
Graft, corruption, greed, deceit are the way of business and government.
The Mayor of the the city is named Vanessa Van Shorn and rumor has it she has a sister who is also a Mayor in another city very similar to this one.
Firearms are on the increase. Most street toughs will have at least a pair of single shot pistols. Most are wheel locks and are dependable.
Most types wear leather armor and heavy coats. Armor heavier than that tends to only be the province of military types. Blades are everywhere though and for those without the funds for a pistol there are always crossbows.
The Tinners are an increasing influence in the workforce of the city. With the lack of their needing to sleep or eat, to simply need to refuel with more charcoal and water, they make for an excellent foundation to industry, as well as mainstays to the constabulary and militias, as well as the lumber crews.
Since the fog arrived, the births of changelings and tieflings has been on the rise, the more years go by, the more are being born. This worries many of the older, more established families in the city.
The current mayor has been in power for over ten years, and does not look a day older than when she took office. She always has a pair of hulking bodyguards with her when she is out in public (a pair of male Ogre Fighters in heavy chain armor with large halberds as weapons. The pair are known to be fanatically loyal to the Mayor and her family.
Think in terms of small New England towns, fishing villages, quaint English towns, Charles Dickinson Factories, Steampunk without the Steam (yet perhaps), but with a population of about 20,000 or so, covering a good 15 square miles of buildings, streets, alleys, and underground sewer systems.
Good inspiration lies at these three websites
