Rybalka is the only place Nalcu the Wanderer can get what he’s after. Continue reading Nalcu the Wanderer
Nalcu the Wanderer
Tag: Rybalka
The Rybalka tag collects post about the heart and soul of the Aventyr Campaign Setting, the village of Rybalka.
Nestled on a peninsula on Serpent Lake in the Vikmordere Valley, Rybalka is a Klavek village within the valley. The colony is the predicted center of power in the valley, and many factions are vying for control of the small village.
The Rybalkan Peninsula on Serpent Lake is an isolated place. Numerous tombs and barrows of Vikmordere origin can be found on the Rybalkan Peninsula and throughout the Vikmordere Valley, as well as ruined fortresses from the region’s long history of conflict.
Rybalka itself sits in a sheltered cove on the peninsula’s southern shore, protecting the village from the worst of the weather from both the lake and the mountains to the north. Two roads lead away from Rybalka, both in a northerly direction: one toward the Dark Wood and the pass through the mountains, and the other to the nearby iron mine.
In the past, Vikmordere raiders used the strategic location of the fishing village as a launching point for attacks against the Klavek Kingdom. The Klavek monarchy moved troops into the valley and launched an arduous assault against the Vikmordere in hopes of securing the village and the lucrative iron mine. After many failed attempts and the deaths of hundreds, the Klavek Kingdom was finally able to oust the Vikmordere raiders and take control of the village.
Rybalka is on the far frontier of the Klavek Kingdom, but retains its traditional Vikmordere roots. Culturally, the villagers are birthing the first generation of what’s becoming known as “Rybalkans”—those with both Klavek and Vikmordere lineage. While the influence of both cultures can still be felt, increasingly they are becoming more accepting and tolerant of each other, rather than clinging to a past that serves no one.
Mayor Igor Leonid is the Klavek-born trustee appointed to rule over Rybalka. He commands a small contingent of Klavek soldiers to this end. He has embraced frontier life, encouraging his fellow Klavek immigrants to do the same. For this reason he is well-liked by almost all Rybalka’s citizens, Klavek and Vikmordere alike.
Today, Rybalka is a reluctant melting pot of Klavekian emigrants and Vikmordere natives. Distrust between the two cultures is deep-seeded, though the village is often united against outside forces, such as pillagers and tax agents. Like other far-flung Klavek settlements, Rybalka is a rural community that sends the vast majority of its trade goods to Mohkba, capital of the Klavek Kingdom.
Each day in Rybalka begins as the sun finally reaches high enough in the sky to cast its light over the jagged peaks of the Eastern Mountains. The sun’s rays hit the crystallized snow cover creating myriad colors, and light begins to dance upon the partially frozen Serpent Lake. The folk living in the small village begin to stir and go about their daily duties: fishermen push their skiffs over the jagged chunks of ice and into the water, soldiers gear up for a wilderness trek, and acolytes sound the cathedral bells.
Vikmordere Valley: Notable Locations
The Vikmordere Valley is famous throughout the Klavek Kingdom as a wild frontier of danger and adventure. To most Klaveks, the valley is a mythical place, secluded deep in the Eastern Mountains. Only the king’s colony of Rybalka brings any semblance of high culture to the primitive barbaric villages on Serpent Lake.
To the Vikmordere people who have lived in the valley since time immemorial, however, the valley’s storied myths are real. Continue reading Vikmordere Valley: Notable Locations
People of the Vikmordere Valley
Despite being predominantly inhabited by the Vikmordere for whom the valley is named, it’s not uncommon to find travelers or secluded settlements of a variety of peoples within the Vikmordere Valley. The wilds between settlements are sometimes days apart, and travel between them is at best difficult, and at worst deadly. The Vikmordere themselves are open to travelers and trade, but other settlements are more likely to receive a Vikmordere raiding party than a diplomat.
Black Bear Company: Mercenaries of the Vikmordere Valley
When the long war for control of Rybalka was at last won, most of the might of the Klavek military returned home, there to wait and train for the next campaign. When the King put out a call for settlers to the new frontier, many of those same soldiers answered, returning to face the untamed wilderness in the name of the empire. Discharged from their military duty, these soldiers would soon form the Black Bear Company, a mercenary outfit with a storied reputation.
Continue reading Black Bear Company: Mercenaries of the Vikmordere Valley
Rise of The Drow I: Descent into the Underworld
Hej everybody!
How better than to delve into a series of reviews than with an epic trilogy? The Adventureaweek.com-crew has recently launched their first multiple module spanning epic, the Rise of the Drow and today, I’m going to take a look at Part 1!
Rise of The Drow I: Descent into the Underworld
This pdf is 121 pages long, 1 page front cover, 1 page editorial, 1 page ToC, 1 page SRD, 1 page back cover, leaving a whopping 116 pages of content, so let’s check this out!
This being an adventure-review, the following contains SPOILERS. Potential players might wish to jump to the conclusion.
All right, still here? The underdark is boiling from the flames of war – Maelora of House Gullion (nice tribute to fellow reviewer KTFish7, I assume?) has taken control over the drow trade-hub of Holoth via an interesting coup d’état – allying herself with the alien Vidre and siphoning power from an artifact granted by these enigmatic, crystalline schemers, she indeed triumphed and funneled the souls of her captives through the artifact to gain immense power. Unbeknown to her, half of the souls have been funneled to the greedy clutches of the alien Vidre and sacrifices have started to become harder and harder to come by. Not one to be dictated what to do, the matron managed to sever the binding ties and arcane entwinements of the pact between her and the Vidre via the Spider-Goddess’ help (we’re looking at old-school drow here, obviously) for the promise of a conquest of the worlds above – the goddess has spoken and so it shall be done. The Vidre, meanwhile, prepare for war – their thirst for souls must be slaked.
Enter the PCs via a relative of Rybalka’s blacksmith Quorron, a female named Miah, ambassador of Embla, a dwarven city that seeks to unite the denizens of the underdark to address the drow-problem. Time is of the essence, though, and the PCs will have to take a dangerous road into the underdark via the ruins of Krelgar keep (5 level-mini-dungeon, lavishly cartographed in a stunning full-color map) – and something is definitely amiss, indicated by the dimensionally shackled bralani the PCs encounter there. After encountering the first troupes of drow (thankfully only zombies), the PCs may be in for a surprise – if they can decipher a missive, they’ll realize that the dark elves have planned a raid on the surface world. Even cooler: Drow Paper, Quills and Ink are described and they are anything but common – what about e.g. quills made from giant spider fangs? Neat! Nevertheless, the PCs should think about warning Rybalka – whether they do or not, the repercussions will be felt. However, the immediate threat, the boss of this dungeon, will prove to be a challenge – the disturbing drow mhorg Yul will prove to be a worthy challenge, no small thanks to his items and the new “Third eyes of fear” that lets the users blink.
The journey through the underdark, accompanied by a cool map as well as information on various types of gases and multiple encounters will also see the PCs encounter their first driders, a wizard of house Gullion and then culminate in a chance for them to disrupt a drow raid on a dwarven caravan and then finally arrive at the gates of Embla, where the second module of the trilogy will start.
The pdf also includes the Titanic Beastmaster PrC. The class gets d8, 2+Int skills per level, full BAB, good fort- and ref-saves and focuses on taming and training the larger monsters – no spell progression or the like and the requirements for the PrC are rather steep, making it an accomplishment to actually qualify for it while granting massive enhancements to the special companion granted by it.
On page 41, the statblock-index starts with an encounter table and takes up all space till page 117 to deliver all the stats for both D&D 3.5 and PFRPG. Unfortunately, the index is not bookmarked, which makes this vast section of the pdf harder to navigate than it should by any means.
The pdf closes with two player-friendly versions of the stellar maps.
Conclusion:
Editing and formatting are very good, though not perfect – I encountered some minor glitches, but none that severely impeded my enjoyment of the module. Layout adheres to AaW’s full-color two-column standard and the cartography is simply awesome. I was also blown away by some of the artworks – the drow depicted mostly can stand up to the Paizo-level regarding the quality of the art. However, there are also some jarring full-color illustrations that feel somewhat shoehorned into the adventure, are of a lesser quality and detract from a unified look. I frankly would have preferred them to be left out. The pdf comes with a printer-friendly version and nested bookmarks. At the time of the writing of this review, Herolab-files have not yet been provided, but are planned.
“Rise of the Drow I” is an interesting module in that it builds up a sense of threat and consequences for the region of Rybalka and its surroundings and works well to set up not only the drow as a credible threat, but also to evoke a sense of grand changes afoot. The environmental effects and cultural details like the paper/ink etc. they use lends an added sense of credibility to the dark elves. It should be noted, though, that the drow of AaW seem to worship a certain spider-goddess and thus are different from the demon-worshipping drow of Golarion – I’m already curious how this worship interacts with a fabled origin that hearkens back to Norse mythology. All in all, this is a good module with already rather significant decisions to make, but judging the repercussions and consequences etc., for now, remains hard – I look forward to seeing how the sequels can implement these diverging paths. Content-wise, thus, there’s not much to complain about. Add to that the jarring difference in quality between beautiful and rather hideous artworks and we have some factors that conspire to keep this module from the full 5 stars. Thus, my final verdict will be a solid 4 stars with your humble reviewer looking forward to seeing how the saga continues.
All right, as always: Thank you for reading my ramblings – and see you soon in part 2!
Endzeitgeist out.
