Blackmoor in the year 500

[aldarron]

I think the population continued to grow after Kargas, particularly as new areas formerly under elven control were expended into, but I don't see it as an explosion in population. The most notable influx was that of magic users and that surely only numbered in the hundreds.

Magic Users alone yes. I sort of envisioned them as bringing along servants, body guards, mazons to construct their towers, camp followers, prostitutes, con artists, thieves etc, basically a kind of gold rush type effect caused by Kargas' discovery.

Outlands perhaps, dismal swamp yes, but I think the "new lands" were probably inhabited earlier and later somewhat abandoned. Given all the peasant revolts that took place there shortly after the heroes moved in, I think there must have still been some settlements there, kinda wild west like.

Certainly possible. They would have to deal with a much more aggressive generation of Peshwah though, in addition to dragons, giants and other monsters in the region.

I actually even see the province of Marban to be much less developed in this era as well, so the Empire would be stretching out thin in the North.

But as I said, there are multiple interpretations.

Yeah, we're prolly not far apart on the population situation.

My understanding of DoCBM is that many layers of the Dungeon greatly predate the Thonian Civilisation. The earliest caves were excavated by the Sar-Aigu afterall.

DoCBm is a bit schizophrenic when it comes to the history and I think that's due to too many cooks stirring the pot. As I see it the first 10 levels at least were built and/or expanded on orders of the Bloody Duke. At some point in construction, the lower Sar Aigu levels were discovered.

It seems like the Bloody Duke probably did the work that connected the modern Castle with the deeper caves of more ancient times. It is possible that he dug the tunnels to the Temple of Id, but those tunnels could also have been dug from the side of the Temple without his knowledge.

Building a connect tunnel would be a pretty significant undertaking. I think it makes the most sense to assume it was all part of one great construction event.

One of the reasons I did not think of the Bloody Duke as a follower of Id is that his madness has no subtlety about it. I see the Id Cult as a secret group, infiltrating noble society with the lawful rulers being oblivious of its influence. OTOH, I like the idea that the Bloody Duke's madness could have been induced by the forces of Id. Perhaps he was indeed a follower, but that he delved so deeply into the mysteries of the cult that he went completely insane. As you see this idea is growing on me even as I write this.

For purposes of this campaign, I would prefer to move the death of the Bloody Duke back a bit. From what I can tell there is no exact date for his death in the published material. It would be nice to have perhaps as much as a decade with the rule of the Dog Duke before the Temple is destroyed.

I think the Id cult is a home grown Blackmoor development. After all, the Temple of the Id is in Blackmoor. I can definetly see it spreading south and gaining influence in the Thonian empire. In fact, one interpretation that seems logical and I like a lot is that the empire grows increasingly annoyed and alarmed at the growth in influence and power of the cult, and takes advantage of the death of the Bloody Duke to appoint Bruadaire (the Dog Duke) and send him to the northern Marches specifically under the instructions to stamp out this insidious cult.