Vald

Introduction

The implied setting of Cairn is called Vald, encompassing all developed or settled lands, cities, towns, forests, etc. The specific ruler is irrelevant, as most adventures will take place in smaller towns and villages, the forest, and the margins of the realm. Most inhabitants (regardless of region) refer to the local centers of power as the Cities, occasionally as a pejorative.

Towns and villages are built near water and lumber sources, within a day’s walk of each other. Larger villages may rely on nearby farms and hunters. Settlements are often organized around specific industries like lumber, brewing, fishing, or mining, with a Fieldwarden or Beast Handler protecting their most valued assets.

Established trails between larger towns are fairly common, while maintained roads are almost non-existent except to the distant cities. Itinerant merchants, Kettlewrights, and various peddlers pass through settlements on a semi-regular basis, sometimes hiring Outriders to protect and escort larger caravans, or Rill Runners to help ferry passengers in the Riverlands.

Even the smallest village may play host to scholarly types from the cities: a Scrivener, Aurifex, or Greenwise with keen interest in nearby tombs, barrows, and Gates. Often a Bonekeeper or Fungal Forager will be hired for their expertise, while clever adventurers will ensure that a Barber-Surgeon is never far away, or a Cutpurse if there is unsavory business that needs tending to. Of course, Mountebanks and Jongleurs often accompany these sorts, riding their coattails in hopes that they too will benefit from the next major discovery.

Those who enter the Wood hire a guide familiar with the territory, such as a Prowler or Fletchwind, while the truly determined traveler will seek the wisdom of a Half Witch or Foundling with some connection to its darker secrets. Closer to the border, the Marchguard work to keep the realm free of outside influence, while the Hexenbane seek to protect it from forces within.

The Wood

The Wood surrounds and divides the realm, representing not just one forest, but all forests. Denizens of the Wood are fiercely independent, believing they are subject solely to its rules. Its various peoples, creatures, and unrelenting natural elements have kept the outside world at bay since time immemorial.

At the core of each forest is a Heart Tree, the place where the forest is at its most powerful as well as its most dangerous. Each Heart Tree is born from a single Heartseed, acquired exclusively from a Heart Tree that is dying or dead.

The Wood is populated by creatures strange and wondrous, such as Goblins, Spirits, Treants, Trolls, Werewolves, Witches, and even talking plants and animals. Most are openly hostile to outsiders (particularly humans), but others will (on occasion) parley with those that have shown respect for the Wood. Of course, all demonstrate utter respect for the Fae (sometimes called the Pale Folk, or the Neighbors).

Of course, the Wood is not empty of people. Those who can survive (or even thrive) in such places learn to live according to the rules of the forest, for those who ignore or foolishly oppose these rules often meet grisly ends.

The Roots

The Roots is a realm of mystery and horror underground, where vast caves loom as large as an emptied ocean, without even a hint of sunlight. The various creatures and wild animals that survive there have developed natural means to live in the utter darkness, adapting their eyesight to function in even the dimmest light or eschewing vision altogether.

Entrances to the Roots, known as Gates, are scattered across the lands and are usually hidden or protected by powerful forces. Once opened, Gates permit dangerous creatures to pass through, giving them free reign over the weak and vulnerable.

Only the brave and foolish enter the Roots, and most do not return. The few that do whisper of the indescribable horrors and evil intelligence guarding these lost treasures. Still, there will always be those who cannot resist the draw of forgotten Relics, profound wealth, or knowledge, for there are rumors that creatures far more interesting than wild beasts make their home in the depths below.