Sour Hill - Sandbox Setting Ideas

Based on a pic of old Sarum a long lost town from olde england that inspire me to this new area of my campaign. Ive considered using the Empire as a setting instead of Exile Island and this is a mini setting in part of the Imperial continent. It also is easy to get to Exile Island when characters feel constrained by the order o the Empire. Sour Hill area makes a fine beginning and mid level area. There are knight territories and lands they could occupy at name level but the duties and obligations are more strict. Exile Island still is a place of social mobility and thick with dungeons.

http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/old-sarum/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Sarum
http://www.news.com.au/travel/world-travel/europe/ancient-underground-palace-unearthed/news-story/c8a051723b599d805e39fd32f7460eab

A nice vid on the hittites a bronze age super power - not relevant but cool
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHYn4IDi19A
Watching lotsa new bronze age research stuff

Region around Sourhill
A windswept hill coastal plane on the northwest coast of the Imperial continent. Area has been occupied by ancient kings and chieftains for thousands of years. The area has been under the sway of the empire for a thousand years but is a backwater considered inhospitable.

The Empire is divided into seven territories technically in a state of civil war which has everyone exhausted currently and has factions meeting in the old capitol. The two local kingdoms consider the area a barren wilderness. The old peoples held out here longer than the rest of the continent but were publicly stopped generations ago. The Empire follows the solar gods. The old earth gods used to dominate but there are plenty of remains from the earlier non human monster empire cults. Peoples from here travelled to Exile Island in the past and the convict ships are often used from the coast. Some of the coast has been sinking and dropping off every year. Fish folk are seen walking these semi abandoned shore line villages.

Inland is the area of Sour Hill on the Scar plains. Glacier mountains to the south are surrounded by humanoids and old ruins. A great meltwater lake is in the glacier and one day will pour down destroying everything in it's path. Between the Northland and the Westland kingdom since the civil war funds have been drying up. Both kingdoms are at peace and don't wish to trouble each other though technically the area is part of Northland. Nobody cares about the scar plains and the worst sorts are pouring in as civilization withdraws.

Sourhill is hilltop fortress complex in decline. Since the Temple was downgraded to a shrine workers come to collect stones to rebuild it elsewhere. Everything is in decline and murder hobos are starting to out populate normal people. Many locals traders are retired murder hobos and are still up for violence of grifting. Some say a quarter to a third of everyone is a cultist. The high church has decreed the area not worth saving. Many run down villages dot the area, many are abandoned.



Seven Kings and Kingdoms of the Empire
Emperor Stephanus "mad emperor"  despotically rules old capitol of Crownland and royal guard. When the young emperor proved insane everybody revolted leaving the Emperor in possession of the royal capitol.

Warlord Barnabas the old empire military district now the Warland. This area was dedicated to war fighting interior barbarians and humanoids that swarm from the mountains. Barnabas refused to kill the peasantry as ordered and revolted first but still hopes the Empire will be unified.

Matriarch Londra of the old empire Holyland, controls the crusader, templar and cleric orders. This is where the church administration is based. They support the empirial doctrine but are wary of the emperor and mostly ignore his orders.

Glorianna the Sea Queen controls the merchant fleets and navy of the Sealand city states. She supports the guilds who revolted against the emperors greedy taxes and seized the empire ships and ports. She supports other rebel nations revolting against the empire.

Prince Grendelheart warlord of the Northland ruler over backward and barbaric subjects. Since falling from the empire they have increasingly adopted the old ways and even have allied with the barbarians and humanoids of the mountains. Many back hills chiefs and lords refer to themselves as kings and Call the Price their High King.

Duke Harghar operates a semi collapsed area with feudalism in Knightland. The Duke established the feudalism and knight territories which cover the land. This system has been spreading elsewhere and is cheaper to operate than the imperial system. The Duke has a great council where knights tell of their deeds and have contests.

Barron Hargrave "The good Barron" controls petty kingdoms of Westland and has been adopting knightdoms and petty kingdoms. The barron is loved by peasants and claims loyalty to the Empire and just ignores the mad Emperor.

The Barrony and the Empire colony of Exile Island are sometimes considered two additional kingdoms. When the various states declare themselves kingdoms the empire will be over. There is talk that the states might unify militarily to keep the empires foreign colonies under control.


Useful Stuff for regionCrossroads
Mountains and Farmland Plains
Highlandsthings-on-lonely-moors-at-night
Strange Trees
Strange Houses
Towers part 1
Towers part 2
Castles
Well Well Well 1 2
Ruins 1 2
Lairs
Frontier Shacks
Evil Farms
Stone age Relics
Local Ruins
1 Crumbling cottage - stone or turf cottage
2 Prehuman mounds - strange artificial hills
3 Prehuman rubble - piles of once carved black stone
4 Prehuman catacombs - elder caves full of monsters
5 Cyclopean monuments - colossal carved stones
6 Cyclopean ruins - giant ruins from irregular carved rocks
7 Cyclopean caverns - huge caves often monster lairs
8 Ancient hillfort - artificial hill sculpted into fort town
9 Ancient barrow mound - great burial mound
10 Ancient highway - procesional roadway lined by stones
11 Ancient monoliths - menhirs and obelisks
12 Ancient graveyard - mounds and memorial stones
13 Ruined towers - crumbling towers
14 Ruined mausoleum - huge funeral building
15 Ruined manor - abandoned fortified noble houses
16 Ruined castles - crumbling or ruined forts
17 Haunted houses - abandoned houses
18 Ghost towns - abandoned settlements
19 Stonehenge - huge megalithic stone monuments
20 Elf mound - site of ancient elf activity

d20 Other Things
1 Tree circles - planted holy sanctuaries
2 Turf carvings - huge animals and gods cut into turf revealing chalk beneath
3 Old mine - open pits dot hills everywhere
4 Old grave - lone often unmarked grave
5 Old border stone - carved stone depicting gods and clans
6 Magic trees - elder trees worshiped by old cults
7 Forgotten wells - formerly sacrificial place
8 Old ponds - formerly sacrificial place
9 Flattened hilltops - former shrine locations
10 Strange idols - monuments to forgotten gods and demons
11 Carved wooden pole - depicting deities and beasts
12 Old quarry - where stones and chalk were mined
13 Sunken quarry - flooded with water and mud
14 Whicker figures - local tribal cult leave out figures of animals and people
15 Half carved monolith - partially chiseled from larger rock
16 Woodhenge - circle of carved wooden poles
17 Stone altar - used in ancient rituals
18 Skull shrine - stone with niche for skulls
19 Stone causeway - intersects a body of water with built up stone road
20 Old road - built connecting long gone towns and villages