Whenever enough new folks join the Dreamland RPG Facebook group or Discord server, I’m going to be posting new Dreamland material (the FB and/or Discord folks get to vote on what it is). In celebration of the Facebook reaching 500 folks, here is a brief post on Aphorat, one of the four regions of Dreamland to be included in the upcoming Dreamland setting book written by (NAME REDACTED).
Aphorat is the ancient name for a region that in modern days is two of the Six Kingdoms: pleasant Skailand, and the incomprehensible Boojum Lands. The Enchanted Wood touches on the northwest of Aphorat, and spreads to adjoining regions far away—no one has ever mapped its full circumference, as like all wilderness regions of Dreamland, it continually grows.
The Skai River begins in an artesian spring beside the Shivering Temple of Lerion and eventually passes Ulthar, to empty at last into the Southern Seas at the onyx-wharved city of Dylath-Leen. The length of the river is known as Skailand, the velvet glove which conceals the iron hand of that ruthless merchant port . It is productive land, a vast rolling plain of forests, fields, and grasslands, dotted with farms and villages, and crisscrossed with roads and streams.
On the western side of the Skai, beyond the Enchanted Wood, the Boojum Lands are quite, quite mad. Mostly woodlands and meadows, they are dotted with odd sites; but the main challenge here is the Boojumites themselves, who are incomparably fractious. The region is ruled by a Red Queen, but the several cities within each have their own particular madness.
Far east of the Skai lies Parg, which is considered part of Aphorat, though it isolates itself from its neighbors as much as possible. It is a prosperous land, but traumatized by the depredations of slave-raids from Dylath-Leen. Vast tracts of jungle are broken in places by mesas that are mostly pastureland, where Pargani herd aurochs, zebras, tapirs, and lizards the size of elephants. Seven ancient temples, known as the Heptad, line the coast. On their island base at Cowa the folk of Dylath-Leen organize raids against the interior.
On the edge of these regions lie strange places with their own unique cultures. Mt. Lerion is one of the mountains the gods love and once danced on: a gigantic rolling hill miles high, covered to its very top with lush green grass, sparkling streams and fountains, woodland copses and Grecian pavilions. It looks like an image from Maxfield Parrish or Alma-Tadema, with toga-clad people seemingly living a life of luxury and art. The Houses of Fame are mysterious sites where few Dreamlanders dare go: a bronze temple balanced on bronze pillars, balanced on top of a giant ice boulder; and a gigantic house made of wickerwork that hovers just above the ground, spinning at tremendous speed. More often visited is Vinth of the Dead, where Skailanders and Pargites alike make pilgrimage to talk to their deceased loved ones. Floating above all this is Cockaigne, the cloud city, floating home of every delight.
All these regions and towns will be described in detail in the first Dreamland setting book, “The Six Kingdoms”, coming soon along with the Dreamland core rules! Please sign up for the Dreamland Discord, Facebook and mailing list for news.