Info on Aerenwe

[irdeggman]

Another basis for the elven tie to Aerenwe could be gleamed from the novel Shadow Stone. While technically a Forgotten Realms novel, as Rich Baker pointed out it was actually the story of Aelis and he converted it after the cancelation of the BR line.

The main character was the protector of the forest (hmm I wonder which BR forest that could be?)

Another connection is the fact that the Queen's Lt are comprised of half-elf rangers. In general half-elfs are not readily accepted by humans and there usually needs to be something special that connects the two.

[ausrick]

OK, thanks everyone for the info, and the side discussion of the title of king/queen.

Now you are just going to make me ask some more questions.

Whats been bugging me at the moment is how to handle the three provinces that have the Erbannien in them. I read somewhere that no permanent dwellings where allowed in the Erbannien, but all of the provinces there have a level of 1/something high. I was under the impression that a province 1 had some small hamlets and villages, which means also atleast a dirt road or two. so if there are villages, how do the villagers live? My understanding is that in a wooded village logging is a means of income, but part of what I have read about Aerenwe is how it is good to preserve that forest ( and all the half-elves and rangers that live in the realm would strongly agree with this) yet there is a greedy guilder who wants logging rights. (my mind pictures an inevitable eruption of violence with this one including feuding and fingerpointing for times to come) Also, I know that I've heard, (though in reference to the Erbannien in Roesone I believe) that because of the majesty of the Erbannien, parts of it have become a hot spot tourist attraction for the nobility. To me in my mind I'm not sure how I would reconcile that tendancy with the idea of unspoiled nature.

As I continue to chew on this, well, the idea of how a law holding works which is from the book of regency. If a domain is a province 1, well the most you can control is 1, which means 9, or 90% of the land is uncontrollable. (i.e. lawless, or wilderness that is unenforceable) So how could the reagent enforce no despoiling the forest when all kinds of who know what could hide out in the dark woods. I mean, it kind of reminds me of border control problems.

Also, furs, hunting, trapping, and probably the semi-frequent nobility hunting forray that I could imagine would happen on such a forrest. How does that affect the unspoiled nature of it? Would a ranger pump a couple arrows into a baronet that hunted a few too many pheasants or stags?

Another question, does the high mage have a wizard tower out in the woods? or two or three? would they be made out of magical wood to avoid despoiling the source or would they be stone/iron or whatever like a normal wizards tower?

Are there any points of interest in Aerenwe that you know of?

Any names of cities and towns. I know there are more than just Calrie. I'm also not very sure of the spacing of the towns, like how many would go into a province and how far apart they should be from each other, especially based on city size. And concerning the country-side, is it pretty much just dotted with manor houses and peasant farms, or are there more sites of interest just on in the mostly flat grassland?

Yeah, I know I have a lot of questions, this is just the stuff that rolls through my head non-stop. Any help or ideas would be very helpful.

thanks,

[Cesari]

does the high mage have a wizard tower out in the woods?

Going by the book The Shadow Stone, Aelies mainly lives in old elven ruins still preserved somewhat by magic.

If a domain is a province 1, well the most you can control is 1, which means 9, or 90% of the land is uncontrollable

A level 1 law doesn't equal 10% being controlled. A level 1 law in a level one province means that 100%(or close to) of settlements are pretty much covered by the law. As for the wild parts (and they are many), that's what the rangers are for.

I read somewhere that no permanent dwellings where allowed in the Erbannien, but all of the provinces there have a level of 1/something high

The scale of the map doesn't really allow for clearings and pockets within the forest to be shown, and the coast could support fishing villages as well.

[/QUOTE]yet there is a greedy guilder who wants logging rights

One way I've seen Mourde done is that he attained limited rights to log from the tyrant regent that preceded Lilliene (since she wouldn't have given them to him), and now he wants to expand, where as she wants to remove his rights entirely.

Also, I know that I've heard, (though in reference to the Erbannien in Roesone I believe) that because of the majesty of the Erbannien, parts of it have become a hot spot tourist attraction for the nobility. To me in my mind I'm not sure how I would reconcile that tendancy with the idea of unspoiled nature.

No one else treats the erebannian as well as Aerenwe does. There's a 3 mile (I think) break in the forest along Roesone's border with Ilien for example. And El-Hadid runs a tourist town called Aenier in Ilien to exploit the bored upper class.

Are there any points of interest in Aerenwe that you know of?

I recall there being a tower dating back to the Whervyn(sp) family who's progenitor became the Golden Unicorn, one of the greatest healers of Anuire. It's visited by many pilgrims.

I'm also not very sure of the spacing of the towns, like how many would go into a province and how far apart they should be from each other, especially based on city size. [QUOTE]

Considering that Calrie is the only really big city, the countryside should by littered with communities. 2 Level 5 provinces and a Level 6 with few large urban centers makes for a very spread out population

[Benjamin]

I have a Player's Secrets of Aerenwe that was put together a number of years ago by some fans. You may even be able to download it from here. Well, if it is, I can't find it.

If you want me to email what I have, send me a private message with an appropriate target email that will accept it.

[geeman]

At 04:10 PM 5/20/2005 +0200, ausrick wrote:



>Whats been bugging me at the moment is how to handle the three provinces

>that have the Erbannien in them. I read somewhere that no permanent

>dwellings where allowed in the Erbannien, but all of the provinces there

>have a level of 1/something high. I was under the impression that a

>province 1 had some small hamlets and villages, which means also atleast a

>dirt road or two. so if there are villages, how do the villagers

>live? My understanding is that in a wooded village logging is a means of

>income, but part of what I have read about Aerenwe is how it is good to

>preserve that forest ( and all the half-elves and rangers that live in the

>realm would strongly agree with this) yet there is a greedy guilder who

>wants logging rights. (my mind pictures an inevitable eruption of

>violence with this one including feuding and fingerpointing for times to

>come) Also, I know that I`ve heard, (though in reference to the Erbannien

>in Roesone I believe) that because of the majesty of the Erbannien, parts

>of it have become a hot spot tourist attraction for the nobility. To me

>in my mind I`m not sure how I would reconcile that tendancy with the idea

>of unspoiled nature.



A couple of things. I`m of the opinion that population levels are meant to

be a straight count of the number of sentient creatures in a province with

a sort of typical, D&D "fudge factor" built in. That is, a level 1

province is approximately 2,000 individuals +/- 1,000 or so. The "fudge

factor" in this case, however, includes just about every other

interpretation of what a province level represents, including some folks

who have suggested that it really represents households rather can

individuals, that it is the tax base ("citizens" if you will) rather than

the total number of people, that it includes a "fractional" numbers for

those who live in the province on a temporary basis (like travelling

merchants, nomadic groups and itinerant hunters) or that the population

level reflects the character levels of the individuals of a province rather

than just a head count, etc. etc. etc.



Because that "fudge factor" is pretty broad (and contains some very

compelling arguments to back it up) that means the population level 1 might

represent as few as a couple hundred people. Exactly how to interpret that

province level needn`t be done a good 98% of the time since there`s just no

need to "map out" an entire province like a dungeon. The players just

aren`t going to explore every possible nook and cranny. Besides, from a

DMing standpoint its better to have a few surprises available, hidden away

in an unexplored cranny to keep the players on their toes.



My point in describing it this way is that a level 1 or level 2 province

might still be interpreted as "unsettled" using such an explanation of what

province levels are, so one needn`t worry overmuch about the semantics of

describing such things as the Erbannien provinces.



As for the income generated from such provinces things are even more open

to interpretation. There really is almost no description of the specifics

regarding the economics of the domain system. The closest thing we have is

the description of how a Vos guild might go about ranching varsks. It`s

reasonable to assume that example might be used for other domain level

effects, but in the absence of such an effort one could describe the GB

generated from a province as the result of a tax upon the individuals in

that province, the result of tolls taken by those who travel through it,

the surcharge on livestock or hunting performed in that province,

etc. Money generated in the Erbannien might come from tourism (as has been

suggested) from the sale of various carefully harvested rare woods, the

trade in animal furs, truffles found by hogs, etc. That`s not even getting

into any of the possibilities regarding more fantastic sources of

income. A few hippogriff eggs found in the Erbannien would generate a lot

of GB.... Also, one should keep in mind the potential of a trade route

using the source levels of the province.



>As I continue to chew on this, well, the idea of how a law holding works

>which is from the book of regency. If a domain is a province 1, well the

>most you can control is 1, which means 9, or 90% of the land is

>uncontrollable. (i.e. lawless, or wilderness that is unenforceable) So

>how could the reagent enforce no despoiling the forest when all kinds of

>who know what could hide out in the dark woods. I mean, it kind of

>reminds me of border control problems.



Probably the more useful way to look at this is that law holdings are to

population level what population level is to province. That is, a province

(1/7) means that that province is currently one eighth

populated. (Actually max population levels and source potential may

differ, but let`s go with it for now.) A law(1) in a province (1/7) has

it`s population completely under the influence of that law(1) because that

law(1) encompasses all of the population level 1. A law(1) holding in a

province with a population of 2 influences half the population.



Note that "under the influence" does not mean "completely controlled

by." There can still be crime, dissension and lawlessness in a province

with a high law holding. Law holdings merely represent how much of the

population recognizes the authority of the regent as the leader of the

province in regards to justice, jurisprudence, policing, etc. It doesn`t

give that law holder the ability to control their behavior per se.



>Also, furs, hunting, trapping, and probably the semi-frequent nobility

>hunting forray that I could imagine would happen on such a forrest. How

>does that affect the unspoiled nature of it? Would a ranger pump a couple

>arrows into a baronet that hunted a few too many pheasants or stags?



"A few too many" pheasants or stags is probably not enough to affect things

at the domain level. A high level NPC could potentially do a lot of damage

to a province, but generally "adventure level" effects are IMO better

portrayed as the domain level equivalent of random events rather than as

things that might be more like domain effects. Remember for a person to

change the population level of a province generally requires domain

action--which is a month long series of adventure level events combined

with the expenditure of thousands of gp (in GB) form and back by a

mystical/magical energy based on a connection to the divine (RP.)



>Another question, does the high mage have a wizard tower out in the woods?

>or two or three? would they be made out of magical wood to avoid

>despoiling the source or would they be stone/iron or whatever like a

>normal wizards tower?



His residences in elven ruins maintained by magic has already been

described, and to that I`d just add that such buildings are very easily

described as wizard`s tower(s) and there`s no reason why not to do so for

Aelies. In addition, he`d be as likely as any other source holder to have

more "natural" places of control in the provinces he has sources. A

crystal cave; a giant, sheltering oak, etc.



Gary

[ausrick]

Thanks to everyone so far, all of your posts have been helpful and insightful. I like the discussions. Cessari, thanks for the line-item breakdown answer to a bunch of my questions and thanks to Geeman for touching on domain level implications. Thanks to Benjamin for offering to send me stuff, I'm not sure if you got my message or not, but here is an e-mail addy anyone here can send info to, i.e. maps and documents and such, it is sheldon.cooper@rtc1.com .

One of the reasons I'm asking for all of your opinions and detailed Aerenwe info is probably coming from my DMing style. I try to know as much as I can about a place, what it looks like, even at the tiny level, and then also, even though I know this is a fantasy game, I try to think about how the inhabitants think, live, and "realistically" interact. This always leads me to crazy questions like wondering if in regions that are mostly grassland but have some cities, if there are strip mines and quarries (they obviously aren't on the map because of the scale and most people are like who cares) and what type of rock are they digging? Limestone, granite, marble, just gravel? Would limestone or gravel even be valuable in reniassance Aerenwe, How big is a strip mine? and what do the local farmers feel about this? Maybe the mine owners took the land from the farmers by dubious means. . . Then again maybe because of Aerenwe being costal, and not near any techtonic activity, it might not be in a geological location where this sort of thing is practiced. . . I have no way of knowing. Call me nutty but this is the conversation I had with my self in my head today while I was going to buy groceries. :P I just try to build the world and then let the PC's live in it.

[Doyle]

Hi Ausrick,
If you are still looking for details like produce, exports and so on, find the archive of old list emails - several of the list members have put forward such detail because it's also the way they think.
The PS of Aerenwe (written by Ashley Harbutt), while brief (only 12 pages) is still a good starting point - I used it as the background for a convention game I wrote some years back. I have a scan of a hand drawn map of Aerenwe that I downloaded of this or a linked site - it may have even been with the PS. If it would be of help, let me know.
Regards,
Doyle.

[ausrick]

Hi,

I know Thorogood Roele, Benjamin, and Doyle have both been awesome enough to offer to send me information during the past couple of days if I still need it. Well, guess what, I do!!

I have PM'd and e-mailed you all, but I am starting to wonder if it went through. Not meaning to sound impatient, but to use an analogy, it is as if you told me you had the holy grail which I had been questing for in your possession and would gladly give it to me. . . and then silence. I would immediately start fearing the worst.

So anyways, to all three of you plus anyone else. my e-mail address is sheldon.cooper@rtc1.com

It should accept all form and manner of attachments of all sizes and shapes and most file extensions. Also, I don't mind if I get duplicate information sent to me from more than one source, I'd rather be sorting data and discarding rather than scouring for it. Thirdly and finally, Once I get all of said data and it is mildly sorted, I will gladly host it for other people to download and place a link for it here. And by host, that means I will put it on a reliable server so that the link will still be valid two years from now when someone else starts rummaging through the archives of the forum.

I am wondering if some of you are the ones that get new posts e-mailed to you rather than going to the forums and that is why my PM and E-mail attempts have been in vain.

Anyways, I hope to have info from you soon, the more the merrier, and if someone else comes by this post that has it, no need to ask if I need it or not, you have my permission to send it. If 5 years from now I get an E-mail about Aerenwe, it won't bother me any.

Cheers and take care for now, you all are great.

[Autarkis]

Does anyone have the Player Secrets of Aerenwe they could mail me? jeveler1972@yahoo.com

[Sigmund]

I would also be interested in this info. If anyone has it and feels so inclined, please send it to cwsigmund1@earthlink.net and I would be very grateful.