For me, one of the things that seemed to be a problem when gaming in Blackmoor was the overall newness of the place. I mean, one of the great tropes of D&D is the discovery of ancient treasures in ruins thousands of years old from ancient days of glory. Other than elves, Blackmoor was pretty much an uncivilized backwater.
I ran into this problem in particular when I tried to place Barrowmaze in Blackmoor and had trouble finding a suitable location for the extensive and old cemetery complex.
Anyway, the other day it hit me. There really was an extensive, ancient civilization in Blackmoor, and an exotic, alien one to boot. It's just hidden in the Great Dismal Swamp. Here are the references I was able to find:
MMRPG Episode 28: Ziggurat from an ancient, lost civilization with frog god carvings and multiple statues of a leader/ god named Ritotar, depicted as a humanoid with a frog like head. Also prayers to Ritotar in an ancient script
From the Blackmoor campaign sourcebook : Great Dismal Swamp: Rumors tell that under the swamp’s waters lie the remains of a great civilization that collapsed long before mankind knew Blackmoor. Some say that feverish madmen now work tirelessly within the depths of the swamp in the hopes of resuscitating an ancient evil, lying trapped beneath the mud.
From d20 Temple of the Frog by Harley Stroh: The Cult of Brr’bb’t (as it is known in an batrachian tongue of unknown origin) is an ancient religion whose existence predates human—and perhaps even Elven—settlement of the North. No one is precisely sure how old the cult is, not even its adherents. All that is known is that it has been a feature of the Great Dismal Swamp for as long as anyone can remember which is to say, effectively forever. The original founders of the cult, intelligent amphibians of a sort now extinct, were urged on by their strange god, Brr’bb’t, to subdue the Dismal and spread outward, with an eye toward conquering the lands beyond. Unfortunately, these amphibious beings were poorly adapted to life outside the swamp. They had difficulty surviving in other environments and thus their cult was confined to their native environment. Over time, the cult attracted non-amphibians to its service, luring them with promises of wealth and power.
Awesome right?
For my campaign, I will need to flesh this out a bit further and have been looking online for supplements, etc. that might be helpful, but I wonder if the community here has any thoughts.
_________________ "The gamemaster may find that sometimes it is a good idea to just let the unexpected lead where it will." Dave Arneson - DNA DOA
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