The roads in zone 3 are paved with bricks of black and blue. Trees line every path and street and the buildings are uniform in appearance. All having to look the same per a city decree set in stone ages ago with the founding of the academy. This zone is where Blackrose Academy rests. It offers a view of the lake from the highest portion of the island and has the added bonus of being on the eastern side of the island affording the best view of the sunset.

All the streets in zone 2 are paved with a smooth water stone pulled form the shore of the lake. Some of the nicer houses have gutters to wash the refuse from the streets down to the harbor, but the lower houses have no such luck at having a free service such as this to clean their streets.

Houses vary from size to size, the smaller houses are closer to the warehouse and waterfront districts in zone 1. With the nicer and much larger houses being toward the better districts of zone 3. These usually house richer merchants or guild officials.

All the streets in zone 1 have been paved with red brick cobble stone. The rain gutters lead down to the dockside and the harbor where the dirt and refuse is washed away by rain and by a Service crew designated by those in the Civic District. Most of the cleaning duties are done at night when the streets are devoid of travelers. Different service crews handle different zones. One is designated for each zone as the duties required to keep up the districts and zones different slightly per zone.

Star lake is the city in which Blackrose Academy is built on. The city was originally a small spot on the way to the school but has grown into a vast city sprawling acorss the island like a weed. The city has been divided into four Zones, each one housing the different districts of the city itself.

Griffin is the brother of the King. He used to live in the royal court at the capital city, but that all changed when his wife was called to testify before the court against a friend of Griffins. She lied under oath to protect her husband about a hidden issue. Her lie was discovered. She was summarily executed and her husband was reprimanded not punished, being the brother to the King. His offense was very minor even in this kingdom, but this opened his eyes to the fact that his family's kingdom despite being lawful and protective of all its subjects, it was not as good as it portrayed.

There are two 'villages' here. They are totally different, yet totally linked.

Avalon is set among the beautiful green rolling hills of the biome. The homes here are right out of a Maxwell Parish or Thomas Kincaide painting, little Tudor styled cottages and a quaint temple. They cluster around the central plaza, which is really just the intersection of three undertravelled Imperial roads (South to Antioch, East to the Villages, NorthEast of GreatRidge road).

This is the Arth component of the Random Villages thread. These are not so random, but the named ones and with a smattering of real randoms

Awhile ago I started a small list of random villages...I think many turned out to be plots, but thought I would throw them out here for fun.

Everyone has their own take on what roleplaying games truly are. This is mine.

This is more an overview of the subject, than a complete article. As one of my PCs had pottery in background, I tried to research it a bit, but given up after seeing way too much data.

Falconry or Hawking is the sport of hunting with a trained bird of prey, usually a hawk or falcon. It has been practiced by a number of cultures through out the centuries.

Within the chest of a wizardly tool, there beats a Shard heart, deeming the master a fool.

The elven race epitomizes the most noble traits to be found among the children of the gods, in keeping with their mythic status as the first-born and most beloved of the creative forces that gave rise to our world.

So we poor benighted mortals guilessly believe,subjugated by the awe that holds us in thrall of these dazzling beings that exude perfection. But rob an elf of his exquisite beauty,and what do you see in the depths of his soul? Does the inside reflect the unflawed sublimity of the surface? Perhaps not...

This is the tale of how Princess Amber liberated Vallermoore from it's mad Queen.

History is full of interesting and exotic people who can help to populate your world. They can help illuminate the range of what people think is possible for your world (or you can consider them PCs run by players not in your game).

Most of the people who 'spell components' really don't know anything about magic. Components are used as tools, symbols to help focus the concentration and associations for the spell caster. Rarely is anything 'consumed' in the casting, unless it is a sacrifice or burned.

You can talk the talk, but can you walk the walk?

The little things matter.

They are the menace of the borderlands, travelling with their herds paths they used for millenia, and razing any signs of civilization in the process. When the winter is especially harsh or the summer unusually dry, they descend upon the heartlands of kingdoms like a plague, more a natural disaster than an enemy.