Lords of the Cruth Lowlands - Vaults of Pandius

Atlas of the Lowlands
Atlas of the Lowlands
The Cruth Lowlands region is a sparsely
settled borderland, with a total of circa
2000 humans (and demihumans) living in
the area, most of them in the Riverfork
area between the Achelos Woods and the
Lowlands proper.
Settlements and Lairs
The main human settlements are the
villages of Ganich, Petra, Vucevo, Gorica
and Vostoi, as well as the Riverfork Keep.
These village total no more than 350
civilian inhabitants, since most of the
human population is spread among a
number of large outposts and fortified
farms. The larger outposts (depicted on
the area map) have usually no more than
20 inhabitants each, while the smaller
ones (circa two in each hex in the areas
controlled by humans) only hold an
enlarged family of 7 to 12 people.
Descriptions of Gorica and Petra can be
found in “River of Blood” and in “Petra:
Community on the Borderlands” 1
respectively. Riverfork Keep and the
surrounding village are described in
“Riverfork Keep” 2 .
Goblinoid Tribes
There are several goblinoid tribes in the
region. Orcs dominate the western and
central Cruth Lowlands, while Ogres hold
the eastern Lowlands. Some Hobgoblins
and Gnolls from the southern Black Eagle
Barony, the Roaring Fiends and Rashak’s
Reavers, have been attempting an
expansion towards Luln and the Achelos
river.
Orc tribes include the Jagged Claws,
Rotten Snakes, Greyslayers, Blackstones,
Broken Hammers. See “Goblinoid Tribes of
Karameikos” for more details 3 .
1 http://www.pandius.com/petracom.html
2 http://www.pandius.com/rfrkkeep.html
3 http://www.pandius.com/karagobl.html
Monster Lairs
Many monsters hunt the Cruth Lowlands.
There is a Large Black Dragon (with a
small number of Small Black followers) in
the Blight Swamp, a Small Green in the
Achelos Woods, and a Small Red who is
almost ready to become Large in the Black
Peaks. The first two are vassals of Azemur,
while the latter is independent of the
major draconic kingdom, and is king of a
small territory encompassing the Black
Peaks. He's an offspring of the Red Dragon
of the Wufwolde hills.
Lizardmen are present in the Blight
Swamp. These small tribes are controlled
by the Black Dragon Vulomar. Only the
largest tribe has a permanent settlement,
marked on the map.
Trolls are also found in the Blight Swamp
(occasionally, they stray also into the
Riverfork Woods). A frequently used
hunting camp is marked on the map, but
these Trolls are generally nomadic. They
hunt the lizardmen as well as anything
else that lives in the swamp, but greatly
fear the black dragons.
Owlbears are solitary monsters that can
roam quite a bit in search of food or in the
mating season, but go into a slumber
during winter. Together with Manticores
and Wyverns, Owlbears are among the
most dangerous predators of the Cruth
Lowlands.
Sites and Landmarks
Barrow of Uidar the Quick
This is the tomb of Uidar the Quick 4 , Duke
of Halag, who once wielded the Sword of
Halav and faced the Beast of Radlebb in
combat. He died suddenly during a hunting
trip, and was temporarily buried in an old
giantish barrow. However, his companions
fell victims to a Ogre ambush on the
return trip, and never reached Halag to
report his death. Search parties found the
4 Uidar the Quick first appeared in the
“DM's Survival Kit”.
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