12-09-2014, 11:01 AM
Havard Wrote:......
This is an ancient and wild time, when castles are far between and the wilderness covers most of the land. Beyond the few strongholds the Thonian Empire has built in this part of the world, the North is unmapped territory. The Duke of Blackmoor now needs adventurers who are brave enough to risk their way into the unknown. Into the dark places of the wild where even the enigmatic elvenfolk do not dare to venture.
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-Havard
This is a characterization that should be discussed. Blackmoor had had a "duke" for several hundred years at this point. Had enough of a population to have given rise to an active and powerful cult with a large and wealthy temple. And had just experienced the megalomaniac reign of the Bloody Duke, who was wealthy and powerful enough to undertake the massive construction of Blackmoor dungeon.
If anything, I think the year 500 is right in a golden age for Blackmoor. The way I envision it is that there are still plenty of backwater swamp areas where only picts and monsters live, but the areas around the major towns and cities are well settled and cultivated. The rest of the land remains under elvish control. However since the elven kingdom is undergoing an upheaval. The coming years will see a gradual decline in elvish population and a pullback from the amount of land they control. In part this helps to create the conditions that lead to the Mage Wars. The mage wars are a major upheaval for Blackmoor. As I see it, something like 80% of the population is killed or flees south, leaving the land abandoned and in ruins. It isn't until decades after the Mage wars are over that Blackmoor begins to recover and eventually surpass under Uther's reign, the level of civilization enjoyed earlier. Note that in the early centuries Blackmoor is ruled by Dukes, but after the Mage wars it is only a barony.