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Created On 24 October 2000
Last Updated On 14 January 2001

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# Places in Dorastor

These are the extra places in Dorastor that did not play a major part in my campaign. However, some of them are quite interesting anyway. I have tried not to simply duplicate the descriptions in Dorastor Land of Doom and have put my own spin on things where I can.

# Dorastor

The following is a short description of the places in Dorastor. Many of these can be found in the Dorastor and Lords of Terror supplements. Most of these descriptions come from my Dorastor Campaign and may differ from the official versions. Where possible, I have combined the two and include the best of my campaign and the official version.

##

# The Forts

## Hazard Fort

Founded by the Bilini with Lunar help, this is the main stronghold of the Risklands. It is manned by an unsteady mix of Lunars and Orlanthi and is regularly raided by opportunist chaos, but normally does not fall. My campaign did not include the Risklands so I have no more information on this.

## Wolf Fort

A citadel maintained by the Talsatari to keep the forces of Dorastor at bay. Around it are the villages of people descended from Telmori outcasts. There is a HeroQuest that can sever people from the Telmori Way and this has been performed on several occasions here to create these outcasts. Now they can never return, they act as a buffer between the Fort and Dorastor.

## Bloodstone Fort

I originally had this pegged as one of Ralzakark's strongholds, but this was proven to be very wrong. It is actually a fort built by the Mostali for the Aldryami of Poison Thorn Woods. Bloodstone Fort is an impregnable stone fortress atop a plateau. A wall rings the top of the plateau and many gardens can be found within the walls. In times of trouble, the Poisonthorn Aldryami retreat into the Fort where they can survive seiges of any length. Beneath the surface in the corridors, tunnels and rooms of the old Mostali Fort may be found many horrors and beings of legend, very few of which reach the surface.

## Fort Wrath

Another Mostali Fortress, this was built beneath Plaeau Wrath during Nysalor's time. It contains a series of levels and shafts which lead to a system of caverns and caves that is still not completely explored. Many of the caves contain horrors never seen before and explain why they have not been explored. Ralzakark's people inhabit the Mostali areas and the upper caves and live in comparitive safety. Ralzakark himself lives in the Palace, originally the staterooms of the ruling Mostali, and will gladly entertain visitors. There is a Thanatar Complex within the Caverns beneath Fort Wrath and this is where the Doomed Man lives.

## Tower of Lead

This is ruled by a group of Vampires, one of whom knew Gbaji himself. The Tower of Lead controls all the villages within the Spider Woods, those of Foulvale and those up to the banks of the Sludgestream and Frog Rivers. It has a strong defensive capability and can raise a small army if necessary. It is said that a powerful Demon with Claws of Death lies trapped in a tomb beneath the Tower and that even the Vampires will not break the Lead Seal that binds the doors.

## Castle Kartolin

This mighty fortress guards the Kartolin Pass and fulfills the function of guarding Ralios from the forces of Dorastor. It is manned by ghostly armies who rise when danger threatens. At other times, a force of mercenaries guards the pass.

## Arkat's Last Tower

Inhabited by sorcerers, this tower is a remnant of Arkat's Dark Empire. It was built by Arkat to guard Kartolin Pass and has bever fallen. It does not obey Ralzakark nor the people of Ralios. Its people's intentions are a mystery to all.

# Settlements

## Dorastor Inn

## Dorastor's Cleft

The most holy place of the Dorasta cult. This is where Dorastor emerged from the Earth and where she retreated in defeat. It is where Arkat defiled her and where Ralzakark courted her. A dark, moist earthy cleft in the side of a hill, this leads directly to the Underworld and can be used as an entry point to that realm for HeroQuestors. A number of Priestesses live here, guarded by their many husbands, and they receive many male visitors when their husbands are busy elsewhere.

## Dorastor Shrine

The Temple to the Dorastoran Grain Goddess. Tainted by Chaos, Dorasta no longer is wholesome but her spells still provide a wild fertility although her plants seldom breed true. A small village surrounds the Temple here and this is one of the non-chaotic areas of Dorastor. Rumours abound that this is guarded by strong and powerful friends rather than the motley militia and Husband Protectors of the Temple. The fields surrounding this village are generally fertile and feed the village and its friends.

## Dokat

The City of Ogres. This was a major city in Nysalor's time but was destroyed by Arkat and his army. It lay ruined for centuries and was only reawakened after a group of Ogres came and contacted the City Spirit. After that time Dokat has welcomed Ogres.

There is a Great Temple to Cacodemon here and it is one of the places where Fiends are permanently embodied as Temple Guardians, currently the Dokat Great Temple has 4 such guardians. There are many other shrines here to other gods both Chaotic and Non-Chaotic as Ogres are not fussy as to who they worship. A Minor Humakt Temple can be found here and the Ogre Swords who rule it will happily challenge any Humakti visitors.

Dokat has a population of a couple of thousand and can raise a fair sized army when called upon. When Dokat is threatened, the City Spirit will rise from the ruins and appear as a moving city to defend its shattered buildings.

## Neverdead

This is a strangely silent city of ruins. No sounds emerge, no creature stirs. This is the city of the Undead. Ruled by a council of sorcerers headed by a vampire giant, Neverdead contains thousands of zombies, skeletons, wraiths, ghosts, mummies and vampires, all with a hatred of everything living.

# Mountains

## Tobros Mountains

One of Dorasta's Sons, Tobros was a Giant who could not stop growing. He was stung by Bagog or one of her daughters and fell into a deep sleep, becoming a range of mountains. When he stirs, minor local quakes occur.

## Seven Hills

Rising above the Hellwood, the Seven Hills provide a refuge for chaos and non-chaos alike. The hills contain refuges for scorpionfolk, broos, ogres and the Golden Heroes. A Temple to Cacodemon is maintained here with a Fiend permanently manifested. It is said that a Chaotic True Dragon sleeps beneath the Hills and that each Hill is one of the Coils of the Dragon.

## Rockwall Mountains

Part of the Rocwood range, these mountains form an immense barrier between Dorastor and Ralios. They were formed when the Rockwoods were squeezed and they grew tall. Now, they are the home of many creatures, including giants and a few trolls, although not a kingdom.

## Thunder Mountain

Sacred to both Lodril and Orlanth, this is the home of a son of Lodril. This demigod was born when Lodril coupled with the Earth here during the Gods War and became famous when Orlanth twisted his head around so that he always looks behind himself. He lives in his fiery mountain and remained neutral during the Gbaji Wars so was cursed by both sides.

# Plateaus and Plains

## Ash Flat

The site of the City of Miracles where Gbaji was slain by Arkat. It is full of choking ash and dust with ruined buildings occasionally uncovered by the winds. The Ash Man lives here and can take form within the ash to attack travellers. Many secrets lie hidden beneath the ash and many adventurers travel here to uncover them. The most treasured, the position of the Tower of Dreams where Arkat and Gbaji fought, is still unknown. Many echoes and dreams from the Golden Empire make themselves manifest here and those in search of exotic allies and powers may gain huge rewards here.

## Foul Vale

Shielded by Hellwood and Rockwall to the South and West and Spider Woods to the North, Foulvale is protected from violent winds and storms. The air is warm and still, the ground marshy, especially near the Sludgestream. Pockets in the ground give off foul stenches, filling the air. Insects abound, causing irritation and nuisance. One is tempted to lie down and stay forever here in peace. A few hamlets follow the Sludgestream and border the Spider Woods, all are chaotic and are nominally ruled by the Tower of Lead. On Holy Days, many people may be found travelling to the Tower to pay their tithes of blood.

## Rotground

Whereas the stench from Foulvale comes from decaying corpses, the earth underfoot Rotground is itself decaying. Rotground is very boggy, full of quicksands and mudpools as the ground slowly dissolves. The air is full of decay, the ground is treacherous. Disease hangs in every pore and even living flesh and skin may start to rot if it spends too much time here.

## Nangtali's Plateau

A high, blasted place, ghosts and wraiths wander the plateau, broos ambush the unwary, scorpionmen live in hidden caves. The main people here are the Telmori, both werewolves and wolf men. They live in scattered hamlets and nomadic camps and hunt the wildlife here, in the lowlands.and in the Tobros Hills.

## Ghostdirt Plain

The site of the destruction of a large chaos army, this area is full of the wails of ghosts and wraiths. Even the ground here is magical and attacks anyone who walks across. Anyone killed here has a chance of being bound here as a ghost and many have spent their afterlife bewailing their fate.

## Slimestone

Between two srivers, Slimestone is an area of raised stone perhaps six miles square. The stone is deeply cut with ravines and gorges and is splippery smooth in many places. A fairly large community lives here, hunting game from the surrounding areas and worshipping the Great Gorp. This monstrosity can be seen oozing its way through the rock, bursting geyser-like through holes, reforming around obstacles, casting off and absorbing numerous gorps.

## Plateau Wrath

# Forests

## Hellwood

A vast extent of woodland, 120 miles by 30, Hellwood is the vilest area of Dorastor. At its centre, where no-one goes, the trees are impenetrable, winding around each other in deformed embraces, alive in a way unknown elsewhere. The elves of Hellwood worship the chaotic Shanasee Tree making this a parody of an Aldryami Forest. Many worship Kjralk and others worship Yelmalio. Even the Dryads worship Chaos and revel in their strange powers. The plants of Hellwood are terrible to behold and most are unknown. Towards the east Hellwood takes on the appearance of a normal wood, but still contains many chaotic plants.

## Poisonthorn Woods

An area of twisted trees whose touch is death. The Aldryami here have no love of chaos and will not allow it to take root in their forests. They have many secrets from the past and have many gifts given to them by Arkat himself. They are masters of poison and many are themselves poisonous. The more deadly of them have running sores and breath that kills. To the north, the woods are more wholesome but inn the southeast and centre they are terrible t behold.

## Spider Woods

The home of many kinds of spider, Spider Woods is quite deadly. It is most famous fo the giant spiders that live in the webs in the canopies and for the Spider Trees that, once touched, erupt in a seething mass of tiny spiders. Those who walk through Spider Woods find that they are soon covered with small red bites and quickly feel tired, nauseous and sick. Most will die. Aranea cultists are immune to this effect as the small spiders will not attack them. People in the hamlets around Spider Woods seem immune to the bites and trade in silk, venom and other spider products.

# Rivers

## Oilstream River

Widely acknowledged as the eastern border of Dorastor, Oilstream is a heavily polluted river. Some say that is rises in an old Mostali complex and that is the source of the pollution. The lands to the east vary in the amount of chaos, at the present the level of contamination is steady as Ralzakark's power is balanced by the Risklands.

## Hellwood River

This flows through Hellwood and is noted for its wide variety of water plants and exotic creatures. Some say that there are river elves here, but their existence is unproven. What is known is the number of Aldryami who bathe here, oblivious to and unaffected by its dangers.

## Sweetwater River

Another of the Clean Waters of Dorastor, this is good to drink and is almost normal in appearance.

## Sludgestream River

The mighty river of Dorastor, this rises in the Rockwall mountains, skirts Poisonthorn and flows through Ash Flat, Rotground and Foulvale, being fed by other rivers. As it leaves Dorastor, the waters are so polluted that they can only crawl along. The waters of the Skalsplitter and Frog rivers help to dilute the waters as they meet the Sludgestream and there are shrines to the Purifier at each of the confluences.

## Erinflarth River

The major river of the region, this is fed by the Sludgestream and is prified at the Dam. This is a construction of earth, stone and wood that holds back the Slime of the Sludgestream. It is manned by worshippers of the Purifier who cleanses the waters. Other shrines to the Purifier dot the banks of the Sludgestream and reduce the level of contamination.

## Muddy Creek

One of the Clean Rivers, this is dirtied only by heavy silt and has worshippers who are not chaotic.

## Frog River

The northeastern border of Dorastor, Frog River is fairly clean but has some pollution and chaos taint.

## The Skalsplitter River

The last of the Clean Waters of Dorastor, this is the border between Dorastor and the Skanthi domains. Skalsplitter is normally uncontaminated by Chaos - Dorastor need a lot of effort to sully Skalsplitter.

# Bilini

## The Hold

The capital of Bilini, this is a typical Orlanthi city, built around a number of Hill Forts. It is more civilised than many Orlanthi cities as Lunar influence has been great here.

## Kendhall Fort

This was founded by Kend, an Orlanthi warrior and Chaos fighter. It is a hill fort in the traditional Orlanthi style with wooden pallisades in rings around the central hill. It guards the entrance to Dorastor and has a strong force of Orlanthi and Uroxi who are on call to fight any Chaos incursion.

## ShadowFall Mountains

These fell from the Sky during the Gods War and crushed a foe beneath it. Some say that it was thrown from the Sky by the Angels, others say that Xentha tore it from the Sky and hurled it to the ground. In any case, Darkness Spirits abound here and can be contacted for worship.

## Copper Woods

Named for the colour of the Leaves, this is a picturesque wood full of sunny glades and dappled paths. The hunting here is good, although it is occasionally odd and twisted. People from the surrounding areas often come here for pleasure, even though it is so close to Dorastor.

## Copperbark Woods

Some say that this is the same as Copper Woods, but here the bark is the colour of copper, not the leaves. The hunting here is as good as Copper Woods and is treated the same. Aldryami here are rare but always armed with Copper that they say grows in the woods, but no human has seen this.

## Strange Wood

##

# Talastar

## Oxhead

The capital of Talastar, this has a strong contingent of Uroxi warriors. It is also based around a number of Hill Forts and is less tainted by the Lunars than the Bilini.

# Neighbouring Lands

## Charg (Under the Ban)

Charg was a country of Orlanthi Hillsmen, fierce warriors and enemies of the Lunars. However, who knows what remains. The rest of the Ban has lifted and now people wait with bated breath to see what will come from Charrg.

## Brolia

This was part of the Aldryami Great Forest that covered Southern Peloria. It is unhabited by Elves and Orlanthi Woodsmen who have a Hill Culture but also worship the Forests and Forest Deities. They are as fierce as they ever were and hate the Lunar Empire.

## Ralios

Ralios is a large country to the South of Dorastor. It contains a a great variety of cultures, having a long and varied history.

The areas in southern Ralios are populated by Malkioni who also follow the worship of other deities. They do not have much influence near Dorastor.

The northern areas of Ralios are wilderness areas, populated only by Beastmen, Hsunchen and Dragonewts. Occasionally, outlaws set up camps here but this is rare. The Beastmen and Hsunchen are very primitive, with very few permanently settled villages. Most are nomadic hunter gatherers. The Dragonewts have there own Inhuman KIng or Dragonet. In my campaign he had been lost and was found in Dorastor as part of the Dragonewt of Storm.

## Palace of Flowers

This was the heart of the Forest of Rist, an Aldryami Great Forest in the South of Peloria. It was burned by the Lunars in the Moonburn and the surviving Aldryami fled south to Dorastor and settled in Hellwood. The Lunars built the Palace of Flowers here to atone for their actions and it is said that the flowers here sing sad songs by day and by night.

## Endel

One of the Lunar Cities. I know nothing at all abou this place, perhaps someone could enlighten me?

## Relain

One of the Lunar Cities. I know nothing at all abou this place, perhaps someone could enlighten me?

## Voronel

One of the Lunar Cities. I know nothing at all abou this place, perhaps someone could enlighten me?

## Thurbane

One of the Lunar Cities. I know nothing at all abou this place, perhaps someone could enlighten me?

## The Rockwoods

These immense mountains were thrown up in the Gods War to prevent two tribes from fighting, a task that it did very well. It is an immense range, stretching through Dragon Pass and ending north of the Elder Wilds. It borders the south of Dorastor and separates it from Ralios. The Mountains are very high and impassible. The only pass through to Dorastor is the Kartolin Pass and is guarded by Castle Kartolin and its Spectral Guardians. Trolls and Giants are said to live in these mountains and guard them against the Chaos, but nobody knows for certain, all that is known is that anyone entering the mountains never returns.

[End]