Let’s learn all about Locaston (low-cast-on), the first nation and now home of the Gaulex in DireLands. Join Adam as he explores his DireLands fantasy campaign setting. You can learn more about DireLands here: https://reverendcampbell.com/direlands/
About DireLands Fantasy Campaign Setting
DireLands is a system agnostic, dark fantasy tabletop roleplaying campaign setting. It was created by Adam P. Campbell in 2024. DireLands is set in a land that is in the final century of an ice age that saw the rise of the Witch-Queen who subjugated the three realms’ populations and cast out the demi-human races. The Triumvirate rose in the last century and liberated two of the three nations, but after their victory, they have become corrupt themselves.
Transcript
Cold Open
Its history is much deeper than the miles of ice which cover its vast terrain. Let’s learn all about the nation of Locaston (low-cast-on).
Intro
Welcome to this continuation of my DireLands system agnostic, dark fantasy campaign setting! My name is Adam and in this episode I will be discussing the nation of Locaston in DireLands. If you appreciate the development of this campaign setting, or the features of other games on this channel, I would like to invite you to consider becoming a patron on Patreon. You can even purchase tabletop roleplaying games using my affiliate link in the description below.
Details
The nation of Locaston that exists today is much different than the vast sprawling land that predated the Ice Age. In fact, the nation itself was only formed in 1754 A.M. or ‘After Men Arrived from the West’ after, you guessed it, the beàrrta (bee-och-te) arrived on the continent of Faulest (faw-lest) in their longboats. For generations before that time, the sprawling mountains, vast oceans, and myriad of ruins which predated the many tribes that called this region their home, were the backdrop to the first nations people, and viscous orc tribes which raided the area. Their traveling war bands were disconnected from each other and focused on raiding the first-nation’s people for survival. This led to many half-orc children and after a couple generations, these half-orcs formed their own tribes, setting their homes in and around the ruins that dotted the vast Konfresh Sea, spreading into the Hjuid (hue-id) plains. These highlands are defined by the sprawling Yezis mountain range which flows from northern Faultest, south and east until it meets with the Carst mountain range.
This Yezis range is the ancient home of the Orcs whose own history tells of a great magical bridge which brought them to Ciar-mhonadh (kierd-vonnig) in the days when the gods walked the earth. Whether this is true, which would mean they originated from the moon of Dòiche (do-chye) and crossed in its quarter century cycle which ends in a magical bridge between the moon and Ciar-mhonadh, or if it’s just a racial memory of witnessing the event is unknown. What is known is that these orc tribes which once dwelt in these northern highlands are now by and large extinct. It is believed they created the vast ruins and sprawling underground domains which litter the highlands and Yezis Range, though now they are buried under miles of glacial ice.
The frozen highlands also contained the Seisell Lakes, a series of lakes that were the scars of when the ancient dragons emerged and battled the Gods when the continent was mostly wildlands. These ancient wyrms are believed to be extinct now, but the battle the northern first-nations people speak of in legends were epic beyond the understanding of mortal men. The offspring of these wyrms are believed to exist in the wyverns that roam the Grux Range and great lizards which dwell in the frozen tunnels around the Carst Range. There are rumors that the dragons still exist, but are trapped under the northern ice sheet. Should it ever melt or recede, we may learn the truth of this, but then, it could spell the end of mortal men in the absence of the gods presence on Ciar-mhonadh.
With the foundation of Locaston, and the years of bloody conflict that followed as the other national borders were defined by Bressus (bress-sus) and Caelia (kay-lee-uh), the northern first-nations people, who are now united with the half-orc tribe were the first to witness the arrival of the Witch-Queen. With the coming of the Ice Age in 902 A.M., the farthest northern glaciers began to spread south, stretching and forcing the migration of the North Men and Half-Orc populations south. This migration would last for some hundred and fifty years until the Witch Queen made her presence known. Some of the northern tribes believe the Witch Queen is the result of the Ice Age and she has always been here. Others contend that an ancient forgotten ritual started the Ice Age which led to her arrival. Whatever the truth, her presence led to nearly eight hundred years of subjugation, torment, and death.
The Witch-Queen’s Gaullix (gaw-lex) were formed by those tribes which sought power and influence in this turbulent Nations Epoch, and they spread south over the centuries, controlling the entire continent. But not all of the people of Locaston followed her wicked rule. Resistance cells sprung up in the north-eastern jungles of Locaston. The southern reaches of the nation joined forces with the resistance which was forming in Bressus, and the dwarves of the Carst range would smuggle troops and equipment through their vast underground halls for the people of Caelia. The home of the Gaullix is the capital of Locaston, Vuurghnim. It is still the center of the remnant forces of the Witch-Queen, and an area no one but the most confident of spies dare enter, lest a short tortured existence preface your death.
While only a third of the nation is inhabitable, it features a population of around seventeen million. The lower Grux Range being the center of most of this population. However the jungles east of the Carst Range, and the cities of Calie and Cess are homes to vast swaths of first-nations people and half orc tribes. Much of the life in this region is fed by the Papliur Lake via the Parul River which, while covered by the glaciers at its source, still feeds the lands throughout the region.
Culturally Locaston is seen as the home of monsters and death, but this reputation, while earned by the Witch-Queen and her Gaullix, is not the reality of the region’s first-nations people and half-orc tribes. They want nothing but to live out their lives in the manner which their ancestors have for centuries. And while the cultures differ and may share rituals and traditions that may seem violent, crude or barbaric to some in the south, they are artifacts of a people and time when the world was young, and under the influence of the wildlands, and the gods themselves.
Will the Gaulix rise again and threaten the free-people of Locaston or other nations of the world? Will another powerful leader return or the Witch-Queen herself arise anew? And finally could the northern glaciers recede, and are they part of their own global cycle? Only your home campaign can answer those questions, as the future of these DireLands are in your hands.
Outro
Thank you for watching today’s DireLands Fantasy Campaign Setting episode. Please consider subscribing to this YouTube channel, liking and commenting on this video. And if you enjoyed this episode, consider becoming a patron on Patreon. Always remember that evil spelled backwards is live, so get out there and be evil!