Sangfielle 01: The Curse of Eastern Folly Pt. 1

This episode carries content warnings for discussion of death and an allusion to drowning.

Welcome to Sangfielle. This episode marks not only the beginning of a new season for us, but a whole new world. For the last six years, our main series campaigns have mostly taken part in one of two worlds, even though they sometimes have huge time jumps and setting resets in them. So, if you're just jumping on, this is a pretty good place to do it. You'll be along for the ride with everyone else, with no old continuity to worry about. New characters, new places, new world.

So, what is this world? What is Sangfielle? Well, the big picture is what I say in this episode's intro: Once, this was the agriculutural heartland of a vast empire which had slowly conquered this continent. Then, about 200 years ago, things started changing, and what was already a somewhat magical world became cursed and increasingly detatched from "reality." Now it's a sort of re-frontier, with touches of dark fantasy, a bit of gothic and cosmic horror, some weird west and southern gothic flair, and a little bit of general mystery on top for good measure.

That's all you really need to know. Yes, there is a history to this continent, one of imperial devils, slave revolts, unchained magical scholars, black-clad magistrates... it goes on and on. And all of that is fine and good, and you can read a bit about it below and hear us talk about it towards the start of the episode.

But none of it really matters. Think of the big lore dump as a bonus, but there won't be a pop quiz or a test. What matters is what's in front of us.

And what's in front of us is a strange little mining town in the northern hills. And today, using The Ground Itself by Everest Pipkin, we're going to learn about that town. And in just a few weeks, we'll use this little town as a home base (or a "Haven" in the nomenclature of Heart: The City Beneath by Grant Howitt and Christopher Taylor) for all sorts of adventure.

Before we get there, though, we start here, with a patch of land, some caves, and time.

This week on Sangfielle: The Curse of Eastern Folly Pt. 1

The Alamanac of the Heartland Rider

Peoples

Caprak (cap-ROK): The goat folks of the north put up with a lot. Dust, ash, snow. Rocky mountains with very little arable soil. They made it work, but it was the fear of all the ways it might fail that led to the Magistratum.

Carpana (car - pahn - a): Back before Aldomnia strode across Sangfielle, the Carpana were one of the many peoples who lived here. They’re little folks, three to four feet tall or so. A little like capybara, I suppose. They used to make their homes in the trees, well, not the trees per se, but in villages built on and between the branches of the lake-side forests across the heartland. Seemed like it was a good life. Lots of fruit, maybe some fish from the lakes? Little communities of 30 or 40. Anyway, then Aldomina came in, pushed them and so many others to the most barren parts of the mountains. After the panic, some moved back to their homes, but others had found new ways to live. That’s how it goes.

Devils: It’s hard to speak to devils writ large, since the only devils I’ve ever met are those from Aldomina, and maybe those still in hell are different. But of those I’ve met, I’ve happened across two distinct varieties. The first are those who come from the Throne of Dominion itself, and they’re haughty bastards always searching for a new way to demean you. The second are those who, when the panic hit, got left behind. What must it be like, I wonder, when your “grand civilization” reveals that you’re no different than the rest of the muck it left to die? It ain’t as bad as what we went through, that’s for sure, but still, you meet the devils (and their descendents) that call the heartland home, and you can tell they carry that betrayal on them like a mark.

Drakkan (drah-KAHN): They say we descended from the legendary dragons from some more wondrous age, but I don’t know that I buy it. I’ve always thought we look like seahorses. Skin pulled across spiny, exo-skeletal armor. Many of us spent generations enslaved by Aldomina, who put us to work across Sangfielle, only to be left to its devices when the panic set in. Thankfully, in the southwest, we’ve taken a home for ourselves, and one day, once the almanac is complete, I hope to make it back there.

Heritrixes (hare-uh-trixes): Heritrixes are immaterial beings, sometimes confused for ghosts, demons, or other sorts of supernatural spirits, who enter into contracts with physical hosts. In exchange for their expertise and magical power, Heritrixes are allowed to take control of the host’s body for an agreed upon period of ti...