Good to know that in August they will start a mini-adventure path set in Returned-Abeir.
I liked it until I got to that nasty map.
Couldn't possibly be mine. :D
Anyhow, I did that in order to support lore created by Ed Greenwood, but truth be told, I just don't find Laerakond 'different enough' from the rest of FR to see it as being useful in any way (unless you were to base an entire campaign there, in which case it should have been a completely seperate setting and should NOT have taken-up massive page-counts in the FRCG).
While I'm sure the article is just fine, I'm really not seeing the point at all.
Funny thing, to play a bard telling stories of the last generation of heroes or of mighty empires and countries and what happened there at the night camp and fire, but not knowing what really happened in the last 50 years to tell of.
I don't like the shape of Laerakond, looks odd
Sadly, I concur.
I didn't enjoy doing the re-make of that as much as I should have.
Perhaps I'll do my own version, to be used with pre-4e campaigns. The first thing I thought about was flipping it around; maybe putting it in the vicinity of Nimbral and pointing the 'open end' toward Chult. Still not really 'grabbing me', though...
My question was:
"I'm curious about a few things regarding Returned Abeir/Laerakond.
What inspired the shape of that landmass? What was the design process behind the continent?
Ed often designs and writes more than the books have space for. Is there material written and designed for Laerakond that didn't make it into the book? Enough for DDI articles perhaps?
Thanks in advance."
His lady herald THO relayed this response from Ed:
Hi again, all.
Here's an extract from a quick e-mail from Ed, re. Dark Wizard's questions, which appear just above:
The shape of the landmass arose because I wanted two dragon-ruled kingdoms separated by a logical natural barrier (so, across the sea from each other, with harsh mountain terrain as the bridge) and because I wanted sea trade, lots of ports, and that same watery barrier (dominance of which is forever strategically important) to separate potentially-warring realms. The river serves the same purpose for the human Sword region. I was given the Dawn Titans, a wordcount, and "put in some dragon rulers; here's why," and from that tried to quickly build a continent that could function as a campaign setting all on its own (so overseas voyages or constructing/finding portals could be a campaign option, not a forced-on-the-DM necessity). Then I just imagined things, as I always do, made sure all the terrain options (jungle, subterranean, icy mountains, monster-roamed temperate forested woodlands, etc.) were included, drew the map, and sent it.
Yes, of COURSE there's material written and designed for Returned Abeir/Laerakond that didn't make it into the book. It would have to be rewritten, rounded out, and so on to make DDI articles, IF the copyright owner wants DDI articles using it (yes, I'll be suggesting it, and I see work on detailing Gontal - - my stuff had to be completely pruned to fit the FRCG space limitations - - has started).
When I get the chance (busy finishing up the 2008 Spin A Yarn tale right now), I'll answer Wooly's request for more on how I would use that landmass as part of the pre-Spellplague Realms. Promise. Sorry folks, but there's only one of me, and I have to do much more around the house these days as the passing years do their grim work and my wife's health slides.
So saith Ed. Who will, as he promises, return to"full bellow" ASAP.
love,
THO
Better than the map of Taladas on Krynn. I never found this island fitting very well into the rest of Krynn.
Why?
Just wanting to clarify, Laerakond is the name of the continent of Returned Abeir? Where does this information come from?
It's a suggested name by Ed Greenwood's at Candlekeep.
Note that because it is a suggestion rather than stated fact, it isn't actually canon, but it should only be a matter of time before the name pops up in a Dragon article or a LFR adventure.
Gomez
Rich Baker suggested someone ask Ed, and we did, and he gave us that name. Sure, it was just a suggestion, but technically it was a suggestion that was 'asked for' by a core designer in an official thread, giving it 'double validity' and makes it somewhere in the realm of 'demi-canon'. ;)
It's a suggested name by Ed Greenwood's at Candlekeep.
Note that because it is a suggestion rather than stated fact, it isn't actually canon, but it should only be a matter of time before the name pops up in a Dragon article or a LFR adventure.
Gomez
-It is indeed canon. As per his contract, things that Ed Greenwood "reveals" are canon, unless a different WotC source contradicts it.
Anyhow, I did that in order to support lore created by Ed Greenwood, but truth be told, I just don't find Laerakond 'different enough' from the rest of FR to see it as being useful in any way (unless you were to base an entire campaign there, in which case it should have been a completely seperate setting and should NOT have taken-up massive page-counts in the FRCG).
-Agreed. I'm not a very big Ed Greenwood fan, and I don't make any bones about it, and try to tip-tap around the issue. I never understood why people, decrying it when first seeing the stuff, suddenly began embracing it, when it was "revealed" that Ed Greenwood had a hand in creating it (the physical place, if not the actual concept).
I keep thinking the Jungle-aspect of most of the place would make it a decent shoe-horn for a re-imagined Chult. The northern mountains seem out-of-place, but then again, the Yehimals are covered with glaciers and it sits on the equater as well, so it shouldn't be any big deal given the altitudes.
I may take a crack at combining it with Chult, Samarach, Thindol, Tashalar, etc... by bending the penninsula around a bit more, and making an amalgam of Laerakond's sea with the Lapal sea... it could be interesting...
I never understood why people, decrying it when first seeing the stuff, suddenly began embracing it, when it was "revealed" that Ed Greenwood had a hand in creating it (the physical place, if not the actual concept).
Not me. I still haven't grown overly fond of the place, and to be honest I am a little annoyed that after "wiping clean" the mainland there isn't a larger proportion of the new material (Dragon articles and such) about it. But that is, of course, only personal preference.
[EDIT: And I think I can back that up with facts. A scan of my list of FR articles appearing in Dragon shows me that of the articles that can be tied to a specific place (or give significant information about a place) 4 have been about Returned Abeir, 3 have been about Mainland Faerun. It was a quick look though, so I will admit that I could certainly be in errror if anyone wishes to check.]
Not me. I still haven't grown overly fond of the place, and to be honest I am a little annoyed that after "wiping clean" the mainland there isn't a larger proportion of the new material (Dragon articles and such) about it. But that is, of course, only personal preference.
[EDIT: And I think I can back that up with facts. A scan of my list of FR articles appearing in Dragon shows me that of the articles that can be tied to a specific place (or give significant information about a place) 4 have been about Returned Abeir, 3 have been about Mainland Faerun. It was a quick look though, so I will admit that I could certainly be in errror if anyone wishes to check.]
-Doesn't surprise me, especially with everything already existing being supersaturated with irrelevant information and that whole schpiel.
-If I still care about the setting come a few years, it'll be interesting to see the level of detail that some of these new places, like "Returned Abeir" get.
I'm trying to finish the continental map before I abandon it altogether... I've got BIG plans for my own setting...