Southland: Sydney and Melbourne

THE SOUTHLAND

A Fantasy Core Setting

© Jerry Harris 2014

Published here as Open Game Content.

(This link will take you to the Fantasy Core Index.)

Southland Index

Colony Index

(Not very inviting looking for colonization, is it?)

THE SETTLEMENTS

Canberra and Governor-General Bligh

Brisbane and Adelaide

Perth

Darwin

Alice Springs

There are a multitude of small settlements around the Southland.  Most are in between the main large settlements on the east coast.  There’s also a multitude of villages around Adelaide.  There are even informal settlements around some of the Frontier forts, and large mobile caravan camps traveling in circuits about the Outback.  So, this is by no means a complete listing of settlements.  

Sydney, Canberra, and Melbourne are connected by roads, along with regular service by carriages and message express riders.  Everywhere else has irregular services via rough paths.  Forts are often set up at way points.  Roads to Brisbane and Adelaide are under construction.

[You can refer back to the Southland Map in the Southland Index if you need to brush up on your Australian geography.]

Sydney

Site of the first settlement, the Botany Bay penal colony.  While there was an early rebellion started by a prisoner leader named Khan, the settlement quickly stabilized and expanded.  It is surrounded by marginal farmland, but the natural harbor more than makes up for it.  Discovery of gold at the nearby Summerhill Creek Mine, caused an immediate population boom.  While the mine is currently thought to be played out, Sydney remains the largest Commonwealth settlement.  It is a bit rough around the edges, but is as cosmopolitan as most small cities in the homeland.  

Two large Ancient structures dominate the city: the Opera House and the Harbor Bridge.  While most Ancient buildings crumbled in the Catastrophe due to their magical content, these two were apparently mostly mundane in construction.  They were found in a ruined state, but city planners quickly saw the potential for civic pride.  Fully repaired and currently in use, they are the physical symbols of the Southland colony.

Sydney’s main business is the sea.  It is main Port of Call for the continent for incoming and outgoing passengers and cargo (and Customs and their tariffs and taxes).  It is home of the Southland Naval Fleet base and the main civilian and military shipyards.  This would be where Player Characters would first arrive in the colony.

In the background of the city are the Blue Mountains.  They are one of the two best sources of eucalyptus in the country (the other is Cape York).  Oils, medicine, cosmetics, tars, and acids are just some of the uses for this plant.  Plantations harvesting the plant are a big business.  Humanoids use eucalyptus as a narcotic and have long regretted the loss of the Blue Mountain groves.  (Unfortunately, there is no concept of trade amongst the tribes with the humans, whom they consider invasive feeding stock.) 

Melbourne

A clan of Orcs originally held this site.  Though it was outside of the magical “fallout” zone, and they could not replicate themselves there (they had to go over the mountains to do so), the Orcs had found the area to be a good hunting ground and near a potent source of eucalyptus.  When the humans moved into Sydney, the Orcs took to raiding them with regularity. 

They became of enough of a threat, that the Commonwealth authorized a large scale military action.  A force of Commonwealth Marines took the point and ran off the remainder of the Orcs.  Naval Captain Hobart achieved some fame in the colony for planning and leading the expedition (and would later become more famous for his piracy).  

A fort and later a settlement were founded on the site.  Another gold rush in the area would grow the population.  Currently, it’s a large frontier town with a large port.  Situated on good land, Melbourne is expected to continue growing.  The Orc raids have long ceased, but pirate raids have replaced them.  There is a significant Naval and Marine presence in the town.