Pete couldn’t game last week, so I e-mailed Aaron, asked him to burn up a 3 lifepath character, any kind of character and we’d make up a campaign for what he came up with. I love doing that with friends, especially those who know BW well, with whom I’ve played before.

He showed up with an elven sea captain, young and brash. Lots of 2’s and 3’s on the sheet but a solid array of Elven spellsongs. He was kind enough to not go the Born Noble route, as he knows how sick and tired I am of nobles. Thanks, Aaron.

We started talking and I doodled one of my hideous maps, started writing down names: MoBu City, Mithril Bay, the Vampire coast, Deadport, Hellsgate, Paradise Gates, Kamar City, Holy City of Grond, Hellsgate, The Empire’s Ruins, The Immortal Cliffs, Kraken Citadel, the Griffon Citadel, Osprey Point, Talam. Some of the names came from a name book or a word looked up online, others came from Aaron, some came from the Warhammer Dark Elf book that was on the table, as Aaron named his PC, Lokhir, after a big NPC in the Warhammerverse.

We talked about the vampires on the oh-so-aptly named Vampire Coast, the mists that surround Hellsgate. Aaron started writing down beliefs and I looked at the map and found a glimmer of situation here and there but couldn’t find anything glaring. For some reason, I wrote down how many council seats each nation around MoBu City has.

• 5 Mithril Seats
• 3 Dead Seats
• 3 Kraken Seats
• 2 Osprey Seats
• 1 Talam Seat
• 3 Kamar Seats
• 3 Holy Seats
• 2 Imperial Seats

Hm, something was coming together in my mind and for some reason that did it. The empire was now just squabbling dukes and barons on the northern coast. Kraken and Osprey are both elven but one is dominated by etharchal nobility and the other is dominated by a fort built in the midst of wilderland villages. The Vampire Coast is right next to the Holy City of Grond. I’m sure there is a neighborly war brewing between the undead and the theocratic state. I tossed in Talam for some Knights of Malta-ish action.

His character didn’t have the points for a ship but he bought a relationshipwith his one-time first mate.

Lokhir’s Beliefs:

1. Once I chart the storms off the Vampire Coast, I will sell the map to the highest bidder.
2. The Petrel is on her way back to Osprey Point, we must take her before she reaches the fort.
3. If Sebastian can help my ship, I will sail for the Princes of Deadport.

I find myself tinkering with the religions, wondering why the empire fell and coming up with little details like:

• Only the etharchal elves can travel back and forth from Paradise.
• Like their Tolkien-inspired brethren, the Elves have forbidden humans from traveling too far west but unlike them, this has sea-trade implications.
• Past the Hellgate are the orcs.
• I’m sure its just a coincidence that the human empire falling had nothing to do with its proximity to Hellgate.
• Lego pieces of a seaworthy pantheon: the Leviathan, the Moon, a fallen city, a wraith ship, an undersea kingdom…

And now its there, simmering, ready to be taken out of the port. I am kinda eager to start, with Captain Lokhir on MoBu City’s docks, near the trading barges owned by the undead merchant princes of Deadport, looking for dishonest work.