As I work on fleshing out the Middle Lands campaign setting, I wanted to explain where I am starting–and why. You can’t eat an elephant in one bite… but you can do it one bite at a time.
Initial Focus
Let’s get to it. The area that I am focusing on right now is a province called the Duchy of Kahkuch, in the northern highlands of the Kingdom of Yengzhi. This is in the central area of the Middle Lands themselves. The reason I am starting there is because it provides a ton of opportunities for adventures and gaming, with plenty of wilderness, borderland and city areas to explore.
Kahkuch is a classic borderlands area. It has civilized areas around its main city, with barely-tamed lands not far from the city walls. It has wilderness areas on the border of the province–and truly wild and uncivilized dead lands beyond the great wall that protects the northern border of Kahkuch–and Yengzhi.
The land of Yengzhi is a whirlpool of cultures, religions, factions, loves–and hatreds–combining the three main civilizations and cultures in one kingdom. The sheer history of the land alone provides a wide range of story hooks and adventure seeds that can be mined for years of play.
By starting in a border province like Kahkuch, I can reduce much of the work I would have to do if I were to start in a large city-state, and grow into that later. It also gets characters right into hexcrawl areas almost as soon as the walk out their front doors, too.
Adventure Areas
But what places exist in Kahkuch for adventure? Short answer: Lots!
As a kingdom, Yengzhi rests on the southern side of a big gap in a mountain range that runs from the east to the west, along the central spine of the large peninsula in the central Middle Lands. The highlands slope down to the coast in the south, with one of the land’s great forests to the north, and the hilly plains of the city-state of Ingold to the west.
Kahkuch is a border province, right next to the western pass in the large gap. This big gap is known as the Varge, and so is the huge wall built along its crest to hold out the Tianshangi hordes who continually tried to attack Yengzhi. On the southern side of the Varge, the various provinces of Yengzhi vie for economic and political power. On the northern side of the Varge–is the dead kingdom of Calemethor. Calemethor collapsed when the plague known as the Great Death wiped out most of the people there 400 years ago.
At the center of the Duchy of Kahkuch is the city of Mahmude. Mahmude is located along the Great Highway that connects the northern city-states and the city-state of Babuzhen, in the Yengzhi lowlands. At its height, it had a population of about 10,000 souls. Today, the population is only about half of that. The city feels more like a large town, and a backwater one at that. Trade along the Highway still exists, but is only a ghost of what it once was.
All of this means that adventure areas are all around! Wilderness adventures and explorations can happen in the mountains and foothills on the southern side of the Varge, while even more dangerous explorations can happen beynod the Varge into Calemethor. If you are looking for civilized adventures and political intrigues, then the various factions within Mahmude can scratch that itch.
What Next?
Well, that’s the biggest question! Mainly, I am trying to flesh out the basic info on the Middle Lands on the various pages of this website. I want to be able to give everyone at least a glimpse of my vision of the setting… something I can build on later.
I am also working on finishing the regional map of Kahkuch and the surrounding lands. That will take a bit more time–I hope to have some of it finished soon, and will work on the remaining parts over time. I have the initial hexes completed, and a lot of the area to the north. I need to fill in more detail, and complete the southern areas.
After that, I need to start working out more detail for Kahkuch and its surrounding land. That includes the city of Mahmude, a couple small towns and a number of villages. What I am going to focus on is the main 24-mile hex where Mahmude is located, and the surrounding 24-mile hexes there.
Another thing I want to do is tie the NPCs I develop into the NPC Library, where I can reference them by a link. That will take some coding on my part, but should not be too hard.
I also want to post some rules/guidelines for hexcrawling in the Middle Lands. That will have to be after the first of the year. I need to write them up and play test them some myself…
Finally, my mother-lode of good intentions is to create a megadungeon for Blades & Black Magic. That is a ways out, but I already have the basic story and roughed out map. Details–that is what will take some time!
Anyway, that is where I am starting with in the Middle Lands. I’m making some progress, and hope to have a lot more on the site before the end of the year. So stay tuned, and get me feedback–I’d love to hear it!
Marko ∞
(Originally published on middle-lands.com, 12/4/2020.)
