Southland: Darwin

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.)

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Darwin

Situated in a dense, but beautiful tropical region, Darwin was originally a Gold Rush outpost, but the large presence of Humanoids in the area quickly ran off most of the prospectors.  That would have been the end of it, but for the twin discoveries of large quantities Philosopher’s Stone and diamonds also in the area.  Commonwealth authorities, seeing the potential valuable of the deposits and wanting a solid northern stake to their continental claim, swiftly brought in a military force and formally established the outpost as the town of Darwin.

This town is still in the magical fallout zone and is thus in constant peril from Humanoid tribes.  It’s been overrun and destroyed twice.  However, its proximity to the Ranger Philosopher’s Stone Mine, the Argyle Diamond Mine, and even some gold deposits has always insured Darwin’s continued existence and human habitation.  The property is simply too valuable.  If the Humanoids could be convinced to engage in trade, the Commonwealth would be more than happy to simply pay whatever for their goods.  The Humanoid’s near mindless aggression combined with human greed has made this a continually volatile region.  

As is, the Hobgoblins, Goblins, and Orcs won’t be dislodged from their lairs with anything short of a full-scale military invasion, which the Commonwealth isn’t prepared to do.  Merchants have had to content themselves with raids and some quick, temporary mining operations that are inevitably destroyed.  Even the expense of the destruction and staffing at hazard pay prices is still easily offset by the wealth generated.

There are constant supply issues to Darwin.  The main overland route actually goes through Alice Springs, as the more direct path is far too dangerous.  The sea route has to go near the Great Barrier Reef and the Gillmen.  The need for men and materials in the town is insatiable.  The recurring Humanoid attacks make the position all the more tenuous.  Darwin always looks very temporary and on the verge of collapse, but somehow perseveres.       

This town has a significant population of workers from the Oriental Empire.  The bottomless need for near fearless laborers has ensured that the Commonwealth merchants aren’t going to be picky about where they come from.  More than a possible route to riches for the workers, this is actually part of an orchestrated policy by the Empire.  Leadership has determined that this town is the most exploitable (and valuable) weakness in the Commonwealth colony.  The next step in the plan is to introduce Imperial forces, brought in as mercenaries, to bolster the town’s security.  So far, the town leadership has rebuffed any foreign troop offers, as per Governor-General Bligh’s orders.  But, given the wealth involved in the area and the danger, it may just be a matter of time.

Southland: Perth

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.)

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Perth

This town was chartered for the sole purpose of exploiting the Kalgoorlie gold mines in the western end of the continent.  Perth is well outside the magical fallout zone.  The mines, however, aren’t and are infested with Orc clans.  They’re numerous, but highly undisciplined and can’t cover all of the multitude of holes, shafts, and chambers.  Cleaning them out would require an army and a long siege.  Intrepid mining companies from Perth, however, raid the mines, dig out what they can, and then retreat before being overrun.  It’s very dangerous, but very lucrative work for everyone involved. 

For a town on the almost literal edge of nowhere, Perth features several wealthy neighborhoods and mansions.  These aren’t just the mining company owners.  There are retired and semi-retired miners and mercenaries, who are living quite comfortably in town.  (And there are multitudes of bodies in the mines, of those who weren’t so lucky.)

The sheer distance from the Commonwealth and even the rest of the colony has insured that Perth is very self-sufficient.  There is no established overland route to Perth (no easy ones in any case).  It is frequented by trade ships, but the trip is dangerous.  With all the wealth flowing through the town, they can afford to import many expensive goods though.  They are quite cosmopolitan in tastes as they take in a large variety of goods from the Oriental Empire and the Hegemony.  

The Humanoids in the area are generally on the defensive and leave Perth alone.  There are occasional insect problems with the Drovers (Giant Ants) and the Swarmers (Giant Locusts), but never too serious.  There is an ongoing problem with Hegemony raiders, both overland and at sea.  The land raiders are quite vexing, as they just seem to melt into the Outback without a trace.

Southland: Brisbane and Adelaide

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.)

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Brisbane

Though originally chartered as a penal colony, the Brisbane site has been a good place for settlers.  Generally good land and long free of a Humanoid presence, the town has steadily grown in population, even without a gold rush.  Distance from Sydney and the other east coast cities is probably its main limiting factor.  The town is mainly famous for its large herds of sheep and not much else.  The perception is that of a “hick burg.” 

Gillman raiders have recently made several raids on Brisbane.  The destruction of the Cairns settlement has also placed the formerly peaceful town on alert.  The military presence there has been greatly enhanced.  Adventurers and mercenaries have found quick employment there as scouts and private security.

Adelaide

Established as another penal colony, Adelaide was testing the furthest retreat of the magical fallout from the Catastrophe.  While close to Humanoid populated lands, they generally leave it alone and instead focus on the easier targets of the smaller villages and outposts surrounding the town.  The overland route to Adelaide is tenuous and is often cut-off by Humanoid marauders.  The sea route is perilous, only accessible via the pirate-dominated Bass Strait.  (The town itself has been raided by the Crossbones from the sea.)  There is a good deal of riverboat traffic via the nearby Murray River, which is also pretty dangerous. 

Being so close to the main Humanoid “migration” route, the citizens are always a bit edgy, worried that these creatures might join forces for “The Big One,” a direct raid on the town.  With these constant threats, the residents of Adelaide are nothing if not extremely self-reliant.  The area is set on good farm and ranch land.  Those wanting sword work will find it here in spades.  Adelaide is also the gateway into the Outback for (foolhardy) adventurous types. 

   

While dangerously close to Lake Eyre and the other salt lakes which are Humanoid refuges, the Olympic Dam Philosopher’s Stone Mine is an important outpost, gathering this rare material.  The mine requires a steady stream of new miners and mercenary guards, usually from Adelaide.    

Southland: Canberra and Bligh

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.)

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Canberra

This land-locked in-land site might have once been an Ancient fortress judging by the scant ruins.  As a defensible position with plenty of arable farmland, it was chosen as the chartered site of the Southland’s capital.  All administration and governance come out of Canberra, so there is a large population here of bureaucrats.  The Southland’s main University is also present. 

While it is about the size of a large town, Canberra has a very cosmopolitan and sophisticated look to it.  Its main famous artifact is in the Capitol building.  It was built on top of a large Ancient floor mosaic, which was uncovered by explorers.  The so-called “Map Room,” contains a detailed continental map of the Southland.  It still being studied for details.     

Governor-General William Bligh is the Commonwealth appointed leader of the Southland colony.  He is a former naval captain, unfortunately famous for a mutiny under his command.  Though cleared of wrong-doing, the admiralty promoted Bligh to keep him from directly interfering with their ships’ operations anymore.  As an admiral, he excelled, or alternately irritated enough important people, that he was posted to the ends of the earth.  

Bligh was of course told that he was being handed a monumental challenge in a very important part of the world, and that he was the only one who had the skills and leadership necessary to rule it.  At least half of that was true.  Bligh was set up to fail, but never underestimate a man who survived a month at sea in a lifeboat.  The main mistake of the Colonial Service was that they gave unsupervised and unchallenged power to a despotic autocratic. 

He is accountable to the Colonial Service Auditing Board once a year and must follow the laws of the Commonwealth, but other than that, Bligh’s word is law.  No checks, no balances, no congress, no lobbyists, no voters.  The responsibility of the position provides enough shackles.  In his first briefing, Bligh was told that the interior of the continent was full of monsters, there was foreign intrigue on the coasts, and complete corruption in the colony’s economy.       

He stopped government agents from fighting the Cartel and endorsed them (as long as the government got a cut via taxation).  He authorized the Ranger Service to help facilitate intra-continental travel and the creation of a string of forts across important routes in the Outback.  He stopped any further foreign investment and has carefully limited foreign immigration and employment.   

He successfully lobbied the admiralty for a larger Southland fleet and has kept the pirates and the Gillmen in check.  The Cairns settlement massacre happened shortly after his arrival.  The retribution for it happened by his command.  There haven’t been any major incidents since then.

While Bligh has increased security and commerce in the colony, he’s not well-loved.  He’s taxed everything, insulted important foreign dignitaries and businessmen, stepped on the toes of every civic leader in the Southland, over regulated the citizens, and run the military and navy into exhaustion following his orders.  But Auditing Board loves what he’s doing, so Bligh remains in command.  While this continent is still a warzone, don’t hold your breath waiting for a democracy to develop.

It is said by his staffers that Bligh never really sleeps, that he is constantly working on colonial matters.  “The Southland is in mortal danger if Bligh ever takes a nap,” as they say.  This isn’t true of course, but the Governor-General is a man of strict regimen and few pleasures.  One of those perks was the creation of the artificial fresh-water Lake Burley Griffen in Canberra.  For whatever practical purposes it serves, Bligh delights in taking his small yacht out on it occasionally, reminiscing about his sea-faring days.

[Yes, that Captain Bligh from Mutiny on the Bounty.  He actually was a governor in Australia.  I’d like to say I least watched one of the film versions to research this, but actually the closest I’ve come is seeing Mutiny on the Bunny with Bugs Bunny.  The fictional Bligh here, I’d like to think embodies the colonists’ spirit of being tough, pragmatic survivalists.  If he’s one day overthrown by some guy that looks like Marlon Brando or Mel Gibson, I won’t be surprised.]

  

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

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(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.  

Southland: The Founders and the Cartel

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.)

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The Founders

It is said that there only two things keeping the widely disparate nations of the Commonwealth together.  One, the omnipresent threat of the Hegemony.  While the two countries are at peace now, everyone remembers the invasion by the Prophecy Empire, which preceded the Hegemony.  (This invasion created the alliance that became the Commonwealth.)  Two, the tireless efforts of a secret society of the patriots, who have put unity ahead of national affiliation, the Founders.  They ferret out the plots against the Commonwealth, internal and external, and investigate supernatural threats.

National rivalries are rare in the Southland.  Life is just too difficult for that kind of petty politics.  The threats to the colony are overwhelming and existential.  The entire land and its inhabitants are a supernatural threat.  There are few subtle conspiracies and such to occupy the Southland Founders’ time.  The secret society has unfortunately turned into something like an exclusive club.  They have turned their attention to economic and political concerns in the colony.  In short, they are mobsters, the behind the scenes power that controls those who openly wield power. 

The Founders are the prime brokers of all information in the Southland.  They do use this knowledge to serve some useful purpose in stopping foreign and domestic plots against the colony.  But even this is mainly done to safeguard individual member’s own assets, and not any lofty ideals.  Petty grudges are instead often played out in this arena.  Unfortunately, even at this, some members have become corrupted by Empire and Hegemony agents, who have identified the Founders as the real movers and shakers of the colony. 

Other Founders have wondered if the colony might be better off without the Commonwealth altogether and are quietly plotting a future rebellion.  The home continent Founders would be horrified at these developments and would take action, but they are completely in the dark about them and quite simply aren’t concerned about the colonies to begin with.        

The Founders work in independent cells, called cadres.  Founders can be of almost any profession, from accountants to paladins.  Further, they are very discrete about their activities for the group.  They are outside of any government influence.  There is no hierarchy of command to infiltrate.  All members are equal brothers and sisters.  (Though as a practical matter, senior and highly trained individuals tend to take command.)  The cellular nature of the group has made it almost impossible identify all of them, or find their leadership.  

The Cartel

All commerce going through and out of the colony passes through the hands of the Cartel at some point.  These are the most prominent businessmen in the Southland.  Some are civic leaders, Founders, outright mobsters, foreign nationals, and whatever, because they don’t discriminate.  If you can pony up the initiation fee, you can get a seat at the table, and a cut of the pie.  These diverse elements have come together to control all the business going on in the continent.  Everyone gets an exclusive territory.  The only rules are do what the Cartel bosses tell you to, don’t cross one another, and shutout anyone not paying their dues.

It’s a monopoly of sorts.  Everyone that does business in the Southland is forced to pay them tribute.  It’s all quite open, too.  It’s no secret.  Why is it allowed?  Apart from the obvious, that the wealthiest and most powerful individuals in the colony run it, they do serve a useful function.  They keep goods plentiful and trade flowing in and out of the Southland at slightly elevated, but stable prices.  Given the lack of infrastructure, the danger of the continent, and the distance from the homeland, this arrangement was the only way to entice the big money to invest in the Southland.  For now, they’re a fact of life.

Southland: Prospectors, Settlers, and the Rest

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.)

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Prospectors, Settlers, and the Rest

There was little motivation for Commonwealth citizens to make a long voyage to a dangerous place like the Southland.  Even the promise of free land if you’ll work it and free passage, was not enough of an incentive.  A reason would be forthcoming.  Shortly after the founding of the Sydney, gold was discovered outside of the settlement.  This brought a sudden wave of prospectors.  As the Summerhill strike became played out, there was another discovery made in Melbourne.  Then diamonds and Philosopher’s Stone were found in the north around Darwin.  Then more Philosopher’s Stone outside of Adelaide in the south.  Then the huge Kalgoorlie gold mine was discovered in the west.

It’s been one boom after another.  The main result was a large number of prospectors who never struck it rich and became stranded in the Southland because they couldn’t afford passage back to the homeland.  They had to make a go of it as settlers.  With increasing population and, except for the Cairns settlement massacre, the colony seemed somewhat safe, the actual settlers began arriving.  

Much of the land in the Southland is marginal at best, but that’s good enough for ranching.  Local wildlife is a problem rather than an asset, so livestock has had to be brought over from the homeland.  The best farmland was claimed quickly, forcing expansion into Humanoid dominated lands.  Many retired soldiers would also choose to stay, many simply not wanting to make the long sea voyage back or having nothing to go back to after years of service.   

Along with the prospectors and settlers have come a multitude of Con Men.  Most are on the run from crimes in the homeland and see nothing but opportunity in the Southland, rather than a chance to reform.  Commonwealth officials have actually been quite pleased to see these individuals go into what amounts to voluntary self-exile.  Also mixed in are small groups of political radicals and religious extremists.  These groups tend to be either far too outgoing or way too xenophobic.

Lastly, have come the Adventurers.  With some infrastructure built up to support their vagabond lifestyle, they’ve arrived in the Southland seeking the treasures of the Ancients for looting.  Not just the reported massive wealth, but also magical artifacts and weapons.  Scholars and wizards are eagerly seeking Ancient knowledge, magical and mundane.  All of them are dreaming of being ones to find Circumsphere and become famous on top of rich. 

Most “sell out,” and end up employed as mercenaries in the various hot spots around the continent, or as library or research scholars for the academic types.  Those who remain “true” to the quest of adventuring, often find themselves collecting bounties from killing Humanoids and even the dangerous native animals (by collecting their right ears and presenting them to local officials) to scrape together a pathetic hand-to-mouth existence.