About a month ago, I posted about my dark fantasy setting guide, the Shattered Isles (TSI), and its first volume, “Mistlands.” Today, I wanted to briefly show what I’ve added since then, what’s coming next, and some high-level goals for the setting itself.
If you don’t know, the Shattered Isles is the dark fantasy setting I’ve been working on at my itch (link here). If you enjoy Luke Gearing’s excellent Wolves Upon the Coast, the vibes of FromSoftware games, and some dark fantasy elements of sword and sorcery authors, you’ll like this!
What’s New
Since the last update, I’ve added a few locations to the PDF:
The Amaranthus, a frigate controlled by the jeweled dead. They are transporting ancient soul jars that contain the essences of their necromantic masters.
The Amaranthus holds a “Small Dungeon”, which is just my phrasing for a location that contains obstacles, 4-5 localized ‘rooms’, and some kind of ‘boss’ creature. However the players deal with what’s in a small dungeon is their business, but that’s my categorization of it.
Greenbury is a fallen town that was overrun with a deadly curse during the War of Iron and Silver and now has strange supernatural elements.
Greenbury is a “Wilderness” location, which is how I’m categorizing a location that is smaller than a settlement, but bigger than a landmark. Usually it will have a bit of minor history, a handful of ideas for sub-locations, and a list of random encounters.
Water Wheel is a rundown building inhabited by a maddened tinkerer obsessed with silver.
Lunar Chapel is an open-air temple that is home to a sacrilegious cannibal coven of the Sisters of the Moon.
Both the Water Wheel and Lunar Chapel are “Landmark” locations, which is to say it’s usually a building or a thing with little more than a room or an NPC to interact with.
I’ve also made some quality-of-life fixes, like adding bookmarks to the PDF, hyperlinks to the hex map (so when you click on a hex, it takes you to its respective page), and a few other minor things. The entire PDF is 25 pages or so.
What’s Coming Soon
If you’re keeping track based on my last update, I mentioned I would be working on the White Stone Tree. I also said this would be the first instance of a location dedicated to a Covenant (aka. factions in this setting).
The more I thought about factions in TSI, the more I realized I had to say about factions, resulting in a three-part blog series. Give it a read if you’re interested.
But how do covenants work? You can only be sworn to one covenant at a time, like certain video games from which they gain their namesake. You can permanently abandon your oaths and join another, but that comes with steep consequences, with steep payment required to get back into good graces (if possible).
By becoming a member, you gain benefits such as mercenaries, armories, spells, resources, and more. Many of those things remain with your character even if you defect, though mercenaries may revolt unless significantly paid off or blackmailed. Additionally, members of that faction in the wild may consider you, at best, a coward or a fool.
At worst, they may just move to kill you instead.
Right now, there are several factions operating in the Mistlands (and abroad, but we’ll get there far, far into the future). Here’s a rough list of the major players that will be in Volume 1 of TSI:
The Ilanth Delvers: Archivists and plunderers plumbing the buried, forgotten places of the Shattered Isles. Led by Ilanth the Seeker, they offer methods to trade the ancient mysteries dredged from the margins of history.
Cindervale Knights: Soldiers and fighters zealously sworn to purge Black Iron from the Isles. Led by the guiding spirit, Rodic the Red, the Cindervales provide access to closely-guarded fighting traditions and the Rites of Purging Flame.
Sisters of the Moon: Devotees of the absent Moon, the cult is dedicated to restoring Her favor and cleansing the Isles of Her children’s influence. No one coven leads the cult, but each coven has its head that leads its other members.
Black Iron Faith: Sworn to the Ebon Lord, the Blackhands come from the Misted East to destroy the powers that be in the Isles. After the War of Iron and Silver, the Faith has long since been believed to have collapsed, with their cursed Iron the only remnants of their failed invasion.
The Dark Princes: A loose collection of selfish-minded necromancers and blasphemous warlocks, the Princes seek to take advantage of the Isles's instability for power. None of their ilk hold any sway over another, but the “Archbishop” in Darkenhold is the most powerful of their number in the Mistlands.
Gemfolk of the Visitor: Crystalline, alien entities that appeared with the Visitor's arrival centuries ago. Iisrex the Gemlord leads their number in the Mistlands, though its behavior has recently become erratic.
Once more, here’s the list of locations coming to Volume I:
Old Silvervein Mine (Large Dungeon)
Shademire (Wilderness)
Coven of the Crescent (Wilderness)
Tree of Song (Landmark)
Orchards of Ferigal (Wilderness)
Tower of Dreaming (Large Dungeon)
Black Lake (Wilderness)
Emberwreath (Wilderness)
Sunken Fields (Wilderness)
Sapphire Ruins (Large Dungeon)
Vault of Xiralis (Small Dungeon)
Sunken Spireship (Small Dungeon)
Darkenhold (City)
White Stone Tree (Wilderness)
Isle of Gold (Wilderness)
Crystal Fen (Wilderness)
Vault of Ixilis (Small Dungeon)
Cindervale Hold (Settlement)
Oilsick Grove (Wilderness)
Hamdun (Settlement)
Gate to the Echolands (Wilderness)
Vault of Irumis (Small Dungeon)
Thanks for reading and checking out the project. I genuinely appreciate your support! Remember, you can download the free guide over on Iitch (link at the top of the article), and you get all future updates at no cost.
Till next time,
- Nate
This all sounds ands looks fantastic!