Fri Dec 04, 2020 7:08 am  
Brink Isles and the Tusking Strand

by Cannibaal

DMs who wish a campaign where the characters are survivalists and explorers will find this an ideal spot. The Zeai Clan (Rhizians) trekked northwest on a dangerous journey across the Icy Sea to start a new way of life on their terms. Finding the Brink Islands, some natural harbors on one of the middle islands proved to be an excellent home. Surrounded by the sea in an inhospitable land for most, the Sea Barbarians hunt, fish and explore year-round. The new dangers encountered whether on land or from the sea provide challenges for them and test their mettle.

The Zeai are sea fisherfolk in the summer, ice fishers in the winter, and hunters year-round. They trade walrus tusks, salted fish, and seal pelts to points south for foodstuffs, iron, and cloth. The Brink Islands serve as a base of operations for the Zeai but have spread south to hunt on the Tusking Strand and set up the small village of Tonnsborg. Raiding parties have ventured inland to the west where they find volcanic spouts and steam vents mixed with small bogs and marshes that produce poisonous gases to avoid. These raiding parties have garnered the attention of the Egg of Coot, but for now no action has been taken.

Great inspiration for this area can be found in: Beowulf, Vikings (TV), The 13th Warrior (Movie).

Country specific resources:
Raiders of the Black Ice, Dungeon #115
DA1 Adventures in Blackmoor
DA2 The Temple of the Frog
DA3 City of the Gods
The Clockwork Fortress, Dungeon #126
The Dungeons of Castle Blackmoor (Zeitgeist Games)

Adventures in the country include:
-Egg of Coot: Raiding parties have garnered the attention of the evil wizard. What is he going to do about it? What has he been up to all this time after leaving Blackmoor Castle nothing but ruins?
-Land of Black Ice: What is the cause of the Black Ice and why has it spread to the North Island of the Brink Islands. The Zeai will not travel to that island anymore, why?
-Fight for limited resources: Land is no easier than the sea with Ice trolls, Yeti and the Black Shaman and his horde from the Frost Citadel are a constant threat competing for many of the same resources.
-Explore the seas: Fishing boats have gone missing while out in the Icy Sea never to be heard from again. Once a boat was found with large claw markings and a pungent slime all about but no trace of the fishermen. Some Zeai return home and tell of tales of meeting a sea giant and being lucky to survive.

Adventures in nearby areas include:
-Forest adventures in the Burneal Forest: Adventurers must sail from their home in the Brink Islands to the Tusking Strand. Once there, they must either take a sled dog team the northern route to the Burneal Forest, or a slower route through the bogs and marshes closer to the Egg of Coot, to acquire must needed materials for medicine, berries, and rare woods.
-Strange nomads have been seen when traveling within the Burneal Forest.
-Explore Blackmoor Bay, Archbarony of Blackmoor.
-Explore the Dragon Hills, The Wastes, The Burning Cliffs.
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Richard Di Ioia (aka Longetalos)