Lashmir - A Cursed Land (worldbuilding exercise)

[Dusk Raven]

I make way too many threads in this forum, don't I?

Anyway, I have a world in progress, inspired partly by a dream of mine and heavily influenced by Dark Souls II. I don't really have much on it other than the fact that it's a kingdom fallen into ruin, and cursed. The pitch I gave to my players is as follows:

Spoiler: The Story

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"The Kingdom of Lashmir is a land fallen from glory into ruin. For two decades, it has suffered under the effects of a devastating curse, which slowly corrupts the inhabitants of the land, turning them into bloodthirsty lunatics. For two decades before that, the kingdom has suffered near-constant attacks, and four great invasions, from the mysterious beings of darkness known as Shades. Now, the kingdom lies in ruins. Its once-great monuments lie shattered, its people dead or going mad. It is a grim time for the survivors.

But there is hope - legends of a treasure, a mighty artifact which the good King Zeal once used to make the kingdom prosperous, and which can restore the glory of Lashmir once again, banishing the curse once and for all.

You, the players, are travelers from a nearby land, where the curse has slowly begun to creep. Perhaps your intentions are noble, seeking to rid the land of the curse and free the people of Lashmir from their despair. Perhaps it's more personal - you may know someone who has or who will succumb to the curse, and seek to free them from their fate. Perhaps YOU are even affected by the curse, and must find a cure or slowly lose your identity and become a madman. Regardless of your reasons, you have one task - to find the fabled treasure and end the curse."

So, I have a world to create. It is as of now a blank slate, free for filling with ideas. The only real things I've decided, aside from the above info, are the fact that, for races, there's humans and a gnoll-like race, possibly more. Any ideas?

[Everyl]

Have you put much thought into the mechanics of the curse? If it's something that players can catch, you might want to make it so that there are treatments that can prolong the victim's sanity, but actually "curing" the curse from a victim is extremely difficult (hence, the quest). Something similar to the Taint system (originally from Legend of the Five Rings, borrowed to d20 and available as open gaming content here) might work well. In particular, the way that one's Taint can be reduced with moderate effort, but can only be reduced to 0 with tremendous effort, might be appropriate.

What is the origin of the curse? Is it known? If common folk don't necessarily understand the origin of the curse, then paranoid rumors would rule the day. Members of minority races/ethnicities might be blamed, leading to local atrocities, especially as the populace becomes increasingly bloodthirsty with the curse's effects. On that note, are the races mixed, or mostly isolated? A cosmopolitan, well-mixed society would have less paranoia, while one where the races rarely interact would probably be quick to blame obvious "outsiders" for their troubles. Oh, and does the curse affect all races equally? If some are more resistant to its effects, that would only fuel the fires of conflict.

If you haven't chosen an origin for the curse, here are a few quick ideas:
It is a weapon from one of the wars with the Shades, either wielded by the invaders or used to repel them once and for all.
It is basically magical "fallout" from such a weapon, an unintended side-effect that has ruined the land that everyone was fighting for.
In the better times before the Shades came, the priests and/or mages of Lashmir worked together to create and maintain a great blessing enchantment that affected the entire country. As the war dragged on, maintenance lagged behind, and the blessing began to malfunction. Slowly at first, like a sewage system leaking into the drinking water supply, the blessing turned into a curse, and by the time anyone noticed the problem they lacked the resources to fix it.

Those are my initial thoughts. Maybe I'll have more to say once you've hashed out more details of the setting.

[Dusk Raven]

What is the origin of the curse? Is it known? If common folk don't necessarily understand the origin of the curse, then paranoid rumors would rule the day. Members of minority races/ethnicities might be blamed, leading to local atrocities, especially as the populace becomes increasingly bloodthirsty with the curse's effects. On that note, are the races mixed, or mostly isolated? A cosmopolitan, well-mixed society would have less paranoia, while one where the races rarely interact would probably be quick to blame obvious "outsiders" for their troubles. Oh, and does the curse affect all races equally? If some are more resistant to its effects, that would only fuel the fires of conflict.

The curse was a last resort of the Shades, inflicted on the populace after their most recent invasion failed. I haven't really decided the racial makeup of Lashmir other than that it's mostly human (though the surroundings need not be). Humans are likely the most susceptible if there's differences, but it likely affects all sapient races equally.

I hadn't really thought about the mechanics - I'd mostly planned on just having it be there, and slowly advancing its effects over time if necessary.

Wish I could provide more info, but I'm leaving a lot of it open for the moment, though anyone's welcome to chip in.

[Dusk Raven]

Bumping, because this is still in development and still needs work. Just so this isn't a complete waste of a post, I'll put a bit of information I've revealed to my players.

"Much of Lashmir now lies in ruins. Its fields lie fallow, its towns abandoned, its fortresses smashed. Wilderness has reclaimed much of the area, as the cursed populace fails to maintain it. The town of Miklev is one of the few remaining habitable areas, and the closest to the outside world. It is here where most travelers to Lashmir go to first, to gather supplies and prepare for the journey into the interior. Just beyond is the fortress of Shaka, once the mightiest of Lashmir’s fortresses, now abandoned except by cursed soldiers for twenty years. Further into the nation lies Lashmir Castle, once the capital of the great nation, now desolate and lonely. To the northern reaches of the nation is a C-shaped mountain range enclosing the Arkangalsk Desert, a land of ash and sand, where storms obscure the sun and no life breeds."

[sktarq]

Okay a few questions:
Firstly why if there is this artifact that could potentially cure the curse has it taken them 20 years and the colapse of the nation to think about using it? Seems like it would have been used when there were still people around who cared. One solution: A group that in the last few years has had some success researching how to clears the curse and can even push it back (like removing taint in the above) and has come up with research that theoretically could attack the curse far more effectively but need a component. That component is the artifact which could act as a focus or power source or filter or something.
What kind of images do you want to play with? I ask because that will determine what kind of place the kindom was. Want blasted Stalingrad like ruins? Need dense cities of with plenty of stone and brick to survive fires and lots of mages or alchemists for blast effects.
What system are you planning anyway? Sounds like DnD what want to sure before calling in a system inappropriate idea.
Does it effect land? Animals? Mirkwood stands as an example?
What do the cursed eat? Hyper aggressiveness would turn them all into carrion pretty quick if they don't farm and would spend lots of time hunting which could break the feel. Perhaps the curse takes care of that? Some relation to Shadow Mages from Tome of Magic and that they loose physical needs too? Undead don't have to eat-perhaps some form of undeath or semi death is the final result of being cursed?
Who are the neighbors and what think will be more interesting than anything else. They are the main source of the actors, they are the power sources to influence the land in question.
When the population started to flee during each of these events where did they go?
Who benefited from the fall and where did those invasions you mentioned come from and why did they think it a good idea to attack the place at the peak of its power?
What is the region like-in weather, culture, density of "civilization", flora, etc. Did the curse change these at all?
What is effect of the curse outside the fallen kingdom? Is the place spawning diseases, monsters, plagues of locusts, foul acid rain? Is it growing?
Also What exactly was cursed? The people? Tso it follows them if they flee), The land? The concept of the nation? So as long as the place or person holds to the identity it triggers the curse?
Also what kind of scale are we talking about here? How big is/was the Kingdom?

[Dusk Raven]

Okay a few questions:
Firstly why if there is this artifact that could potentially cure the curse has it taken them 20 years and the colapse of the nation to think about using it? Seems like it would have been used when there were still people around who cared. One solution: A group that in the last few years has had some success researching how to clears the curse and can even push it back (like removing taint in the above) and has come up with research that theoretically could attack the curse far more effectively but need a component. That component is the artifact which could act as a focus or power source or filter or something.
What kind of images do you want to play with? I ask because that will determine what kind of place the kindom was. Want blasted Stalingrad like ruins? Need dense cities of with plenty of stone and brick to survive fires and lots of mages or alchemists for blast effects.
What system are you planning anyway? Sounds like DnD what want to sure before calling in a system inappropriate idea.
Does it effect land? Animals? Mirkwood stands as an example?
What do the cursed eat? Hyper aggressiveness would turn them all into carrion pretty quick if they don't farm and would spend lots of time hunting which could break the feel. Perhaps the curse takes care of that? Some relation to Shadow Mages from Tome of Magic and that they loose physical needs too? Undead don't have to eat-perhaps some form of undeath or semi death is the final result of being cursed?
Who are the neighbors and what think will be more interesting than anything else. They are the main source of the actors, they are the power sources to influence the land in question.
When the population started to flee during each of these events where did they go?
Who benefited from the fall and where did those invasions you mentioned come from and why did they think it a good idea to attack the place at the peak of its power?
What is the region like-in weather, culture, density of "civilization", flora, etc. Did the curse change these at all?
What is effect of the curse outside the fallen kingdom? Is the place spawning diseases, monsters, plagues of locusts, foul acid rain? Is it growing?
Also What exactly was cursed? The people? Tso it follows them if they flee), The land? The concept of the nation? So as long as the place or person holds to the identity it triggers the curse?
Also what kind of scale are we talking about here? How big is/was the Kingdom?

That's a lot to respond to.

Okay, a look behind the DM screen - the curse is because of the Shades, extraplanar beings of great power. The "treasure" is actually a Shade Core, which the Shades need to propagate their kind. When it was stolen by humans from Lashmir, they threw everything they had at the kingdom, literally, and when that wasn't enough they resorted to the curse. The reason the Core hasn't been used to reverse the curse is in part because no one knows where it is except for dead men, and perhaps partly because there's a cost to using it.

I am, however, toying with the idea that the curse is incidental, and has nothing to do with the Shades. This would force the players to make a decision at the end - use the Core to suppress the curse, but deal with the attacks of the Shades as they try and retrieve their treasure, or give it to the Shades but endure the curse. But because I at least want a bittersweet ending, I am toying with the "price to use" idea - perhaps someone has to remain with the Core to use it, and the death of the previous user is responsible for the curse.

As for the effects of the curse itself, it basically makes them half-Shade, no longer requiring food or other sustenance, but erasing their identity and driving them mad.

I haven't developed the surrounding lands much, as they won't be traveled to (most likely) during the course of the game. They do, however, have a slight interest in the curse, as it's slowly seeping out into surrounding lands.

As for the system, it's called Wanderlust, and is a homebrew system. Most of the setting I'm using takes after D&D, however.

Anything I missed?

[sktarq]

The reason the Core hasn't been used to reverse the curse is in part because no one knows where it is except for dead men, and perhaps partly because there's a cost to using it.

Issue. Either the people who did know where it was were killed earlier in the war knew where it was - and they would have tried to use it then, or they didn't know where it was and early in the war would have gone an a major search for it. The real question is why when the nation was still strong was this option not used. And why is it an option now? Did information only recently come up about the shades searching for it and now it is a matter of interest because its true nature was hidden as soon as it was brought to the game world?

As for the effects of the curse itself, it basically makes them half-Shade, no longer requiring food or other sustenance, but erasing their identity and driving them mad.

That helpful.

I haven't developed the surrounding lands much, as they won't be traveled to (most likely) during the course of the game. They do, however, have a slight interest in the curse, as it's slowly seeping out into surrounding lands.

While they may not be traveled to they will be hugely important. These are the group that will be the sorce of supplies, the source of other non cursed who the party will meet. Some looking to shut down the curse, some to loot, others to point the curse at their enemies, others to worship it, whatever. They will be a major influence on the party's social and possibly violent interactions. You also have issues of these nations will probably be houseing the refugees, probably be the source of those invasions that weakened the nation before the Shade Wars, Did things during the shade wars (sealed boarders, accepted/refused refugees, allied, whatnot) that highly influence how they treat the cursed region today (a region to be risen back to the nation of Lashmir, an area to cleanse and expand into, a region to stabilize to use as a buffer against those highly aggressive sods over there, a useful tool of fear to keep their own populations in line, a region of arcane resources to be mined etc.)

Anything I missed?

What kind of imagry do you want to play with. You say ruins but that rather vague. Are we talking lost desert city, overgrown jungle abandoned cities, war ravaged rubble , desolation as in lack of life? Sounds good but can hem you in as a DM as there is less variety of life for the players to deal with....basically less things to try and add a couple adventurers to the menu if there is no food around to support a large predator-unless the curse effects the animals too. Also what kind of place was this nation? How advanced? what was their relationship to the gods or the arcane and why didn't that allow them to solve this curse? What kind of architecture? did they go for towers, tunnels what? What did the world loose from this curse and thus why should the characters care is part of that idea.

What does the curse effect? Land? Plants? Animals? and Area? If you take a cursed person away from the source of the curse can you cure them, does it fade, no change, contagious, or other?

Closely related to the above "What is cursed?". A region, a site that pushes out a fixed amount of curse per day (does already cursed area to maintenance curse energy (providing an eventual maximum size), a people, the concept of the nation,

What kind of environment, weather, what kind of cultural region, how dense are people on the ground vs wilderness etc are you setting all this in...and was it different before the curse?

What kind of scale is the setting in...Basically how big was this kingdom?

Who benefited from the fall of Lashmir?

It is very likely that during both the Shade Wars and the Human invasions a fair number of people would have fled Lashmir...What happened to them. Where are they now etc. This is important. Could the people of Lashmir resettle their homeland if it is cleansed of the curse? Do they have support for that? These groups are likely to be the source of several of your characters and so how available is training in classes like Wizard or Paladin that imply a strong enough society to have institutions? These people and the neighbor peaple are the groups most of your characters will be fighting for. This group and their neighbors are where your players will be drawing dreams and motives for their characters and thus should be developed enough for that.

[Dusk Raven]

Well, the setup I have is that the Core was moved to a secret location in the Arkangalsk Desert, and the expedition that left into that place never returned. This would have been right before the final Shade invasion, so by the time it's power was needed, no one knew where it was. Of course, I am toying with the idea that the reason no one's tried to use it to undo the curse is because it can't undo the curse - it's only value in that regard being something to give back to the Shades so they can remove the curse. But the old ruler of the kingdom refused to return it to the Shades, because without the Core, Lashmir is nothing.

As for the surrounding nations... well, I guess help would be appreciated on this front. For the most part I've left the surrounding areas to the development of my players. I like to think before Lashmir became powerful, it was bullied around by the other nations. That changed when the Core was obtained. I think a number of them would be... afraid, perhaps? Of Lashmir returning again. Of course, none of them are currently attempting to conquer the region due to the curse and the Shades, but once it's lifted that may change.

The image I want to convey... maybe something like Chernobyl, a place abandoned and teeming with non-human life. Other areas will have been torn apart by the Shades when they attacked - when the Shades go to war, they go all-out.

I'm not sure how advanced Lashmir was - certainly not technologically much more advanced than its neighbors, but magically adept due to the Core. I'm thinking with the Core's energies they were able to create golems to both fight and to build great monuments and cities.

The curse only affects sapient beings, and it works over a fixed area. Anyone in the region has the potential, though not the certainty, to become cursed. And the region is spreading as the Shades expand their search for the Core. No ability to cure it currently exists, which is why the fabled treasure is so valuable.

The land is mostly temperate forest bordering an ocean to the west. Much of the land was arable other than the aforementioned desert, but in the twenty years since the curse has taken hold, wilderness has reclaimed a lot of land.

I don't think anyone really benefited from the fall of Lashmire. The surrounding nations had one less threat to worry about, but the Shades still didn't find their Core and the humans... well, were cursed.

I don't know where you got the idea of human invasions - during the time of the Shade wars none of the surrounding nations tried seriously to invade Lashmir - after all, if Lashmir could fend off an army of eldritch abominations, what hope did a human army have? Nonetheless, the idea of refugees is an interesting one. I think after the curse a lot of them would have been turned back for fear of the curse, but during the Shade Wars a number would have escaped to neighboring countries.

[sktarq]

Well, the setup I have is that the Core was moved to a secret location in the Arkangalsk Desert, and the expedition that left into that place never returned. This would have been right before the final Shade invasion, so by the time it's power was needed, no one knew where it was. Of course, I am toying with the idea that the reason no one's tried to use it to undo the curse is because it can't undo the curse - it's only value in that regard being something to give back to the Shades so they can remove the curse. But the old ruler of the kingdom refused to return it to the Shades, because without the Core, Lashmir is nothing.

The last part makes sense. Particularly if no one really knew what the core is. Only that ist is a potent source of arcane power. Otherwise if it could be used against the Shades why not use it during the first major invasion. Or the second at the least, when research and captured/bound shades revealed it as the focus of the war?

As for the surrounding nations... well, I guess help would be appreciated on this front. For the most part I've left the surrounding areas to the development of my players. I like to think before Lashmir became powerful, it was bullied around by the other nations. That changed when the Core was obtained. I think a number of them would be... afraid, perhaps? Of Lashmir returning again. Of course, none of them are currently attempting to conquer the region due to the curse and the Shades, but once it's lifted that may change.

Some ideas would come based on reactions. What reaction do yo think would be interesting? Those who are happy that Lashmire is gone and they are the big kid on the block? Former allies depending of Lashmire backing are now desperate to get them back up. A nation run by monks is the edge of the mountains who are quietly panicking and willing to pay any cost for the "greater good". A nation staggering under the weight of tens or hundred of thousands of refugees and the locals, outnumbered in their own homeland, resent the Lashmirites . . . who do you want to be messing with the few survivors and adventures in the land?

The image I want to convey... maybe something like Chernobyl, a place abandoned and teeming with non-human life. Other areas will have been torn apart by the Shades when they attacked - when the Shades go to war, they go all-out.

So most of the region is abandoned ruined vs stormed ruined (but there are spots of that). Good so be sure to build you farmhouses and towns as a mix of those who packed up and fled the nation (or at least their home) as the war got worse and some areas were people dropped everything and ran leaving their valuables, their home frozen in a second where nature is reclaiming the washtub with crumpled cloth still in the bucket with delicate hard crusts of old soap bubbles the water long evaporated. Beasts and Magical Beasts claiming the people's dwellings and public spaces as lairs. Feral livestock becoming a danger instead of resource.

I'm not sure how advanced Lashmir was - certainly not technologically much more advanced than its neighbors, but magically adept due to the Core. I'm thinking with the Core's energies they were able to create golems to both fight and to build great monuments and cities.

yeah but you haven't set if this is High Midevil, Dark/Migration age, early Renaissance, Late Classical or what. The golems and stuff does imply that they were magically powerful. If the core could be used to reduce the cost of golems (replacing the wish spell for example) that would be a major advantage. Also Automatons from I think the MM2 which are powered by spirits from the Shadow Plane could be an interesting thing to look at. But we seem to be leaning toward a Magocracy or at least a place with Magical Universities and the like.

The curse only affects sapient beings, and it works over a fixed area. Anyone in the region has the potential, though not the certainty, to become cursed. And the region is spreading as the Shades expand their search for the Core. No ability to cure it currently exists, which is why the fabled treasure is so valuable.

Good to know. So when someone is in the early (mostly sane) part of the curse and they travel to somewhere else - how do people react? How has the fall of a powerful, magically astute nation effected the region and world? Do people distrust magic more? Are mages trying to prove the good name of the arcane in response? Has the name of Lashmir become synonymous with worship of shadow daemons, who of course backed their army and drove their rise but when the King insulted the daemon lord the creature revealed his evil and began a war using the very portal that once allowed the Lashmirites to seemingly control them?

The land is mostly temperate forest bordering an ocean to the west. Much of the land was arable other than the aforementioned desert, but in the twenty years since the curse has taken hold, wilderness has reclaimed a lot of land.

Wonderful, did the place have any problems or even peaceful relations with sapiets who may not be obvious? Other races in the wilderness who are now infected alongside the humans? What to the local deer think of all this ...The druid in the party may ask. But also it gives ideas for what kind of ruins you may find there. Grain silos to last out winters, for example. And now you have a kind of place what kind of economy did the place have and would those places make a good ruins?

I don't think anyone really benefited from the fall of Lashmire. The surrounding nations had one less threat to worry about, but the Shades still didn't find their Core and the humans... well, were cursed.... the idea of refugees is an interesting one. I think after the curse a lot of them would have been turned back for fear of the curse, but during the Shade Wars a number would have escaped to neighboring countries.

I bet plenty did. Weapon dealer in neighboring countries saw their business soar, priest that warned of doom and destruction see their congrations swell, Nearby Kings whose plans had long been foiled by the powerful nation sitting on their boarder or allied with the target of the their aggression were now free to move, Innkeepers along the Whitestone road and the mayors of the local towns rejoice as merchants take their route instead of the Lashmirite Coast road or <insert heraldic symbol of Lashmire> way fattening their coffers. The nation of graduates of the Academies of Tillmarch look down their noses at wizards trained in the fallen towers of Lashmite towns proclaiming the obvious superiority of a tradition that can defend its nation. Everyone has rivals and competitors. Lashmire almost certainly did. Others who wished to act but feared Lashmire's reactions have been free to do so since its attention was turned inward to the invaders from other planes. The remaining Goblin tribes of the mountains, long reduced to scraps of their former selves and always about to be wiped out by the Lashmirite guards grew populous and strong during the war as troops were drawn away allowing them to raid at will and as the madness of curse started to bite only then did they see the danger. Many fleeing and setting up new territories elsewhere-living fat of the raided stores of their hated enemies. An innkeep in the nearby nation of Selgar opened his doors to refugees and made great bowls of stew, but when the refugee's money ran out he realized few others in town wanted to host them..but he could hire them out as laborers, pocketing the few silvers as "food and rent" held against the "debts" built up by feeding the laborer's family has expanded the inn several times now in the last few years and few building projects, or harvest don't consider the advantages he provides. The druids of the Koren forest, the few who are not mad, see the trees have taken back the fields they once held and while still mostly saplings, vines and gardens are taking back the wilds they so brazenly ignored just 30 years before. oh yes many have seen their dreams come true on the back of Lashmire's fall and misery.. . because it would be true for just about anyplace. Sure the negatives outweigh those who have done well, certainly, but those who have may well have the resources and the motive to work against the party finding this treasure and that conflict is ripe for adventure.