Southland: Monster Territories Index-Circumsphere

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

SOUTHLAND-MONSTER TERRITORIES

Ayers Rock

     Trolls

     Spirits and Undead

The Olgas (Giants)

Big Sandy

     Desert Denizens

Cairns

     Undead Inhabitants

     The Necromancer

Hells Gate

     Minor Demons and Devils

     Master Demons and Devils

Stone City

     Argula

     Stone City Residents

Insect Kingdoms

     Hivers and Swarmers

     Drovers

Tasmania

     Dinosaurs

The Lost Capital, Circumsphere

Seven Sisters Myth: Seven Sisters, mighty sorceresses, all had a vision of the fall of their home city of Circumsphere and entire Ancient empire.  They fled the city just before the Wizard-Kings enacted the massive soul-drain that set off the Catastrophe.  From there, they began their trek across the continent, one step ahead of the destruction, looking for a way out the doomed land.  The Sisters would survive, but would be scattered to the corners of the world in their escape.  Lost and alone, they would each tell their story and share their magical knowledge with everyone they met, hoping to leave a trail that their other sisters might find someday. 

In the old tales, it was a magnificent city of immense wealth, filled with precious metals and diamonds from the Southland and from tribute taken from nations all over the world.  The stories say that the Catastrophe started there, but the city itself wasn’t destroyed.  No one has been able to find it, or even where it was.  It’s speculated that it has been knocked out of phase, or into the Astral Plane, teleported elsewhere, or bumped somewhere in time and space.  People in the Outback have claimed to catch visions of it in several different places, but none have been able to approach it. 

The story of the Seven Sisters documents their travels along the Southland, fleeing the Catastrophe.  Everywhere they stopped to rest, there’s a landmark with a part of their story.  These stories could perhaps be traced back to the Lost Capital, if they could all be collected.  This is one of those mysteries I mentioned in the setting introduction.  It is, in fact, the main mystery.  Finding this city should be the culmination of many adventures into the Outback, a supreme trial of body, mind, and spirit.

No one is sure where the capital was to begin with.  A few surviving Ancient maps (including a famous large mosaic floor map in Canberra) and various landmarks have cryptically either not shown it or placed it in different locations.  It was newly chartered creation by all accounts and during the Civil War, the term “capital” was a highly volatile and subjective designation.

Is it gone for good?  Has it reappeared somewhere and no one has seen it?  Is it invisible?  Did it slip into another dimension like the Astral Plane?  Did it travel through time?  Are the mighty Wizard-Kings still alive and inside it?  What happens if the city returns with the Wizard-Kings?  

[This mystery will be one for you, the Ref, to solve on your own.  Can’t risk having those sneaky players getting a heads up on the big score from reading this.  The other location entries will be more explicit and have monster stats to boot.]