The Verdant Coast
"A herd of cattle was grazing on the tracks. Again.
With much difficulty, I managed to find the leader of the herders. I explained to him the importance of the railroad - how, once completed, it would boost the local economy and bring riches to everyone in this region, and that it was thus of utmost important that the trains were able to move on schedule.
He was nonplussed and explained to me that the herd had its own schedule, and that they had always grazed in this region at this time of the year. He assured me that the herd would move elsewhere 'soon' ('soon', as I had already discovered, was a word with a highly variable meaning in these parts, but it usually meant 'longer than you can really afford'), but that the train just would have to wait until then.
I sighed, and tried to commit his tribal markings to memory so that I would know which tribal chieftain I would have to bribe next..."
- From the diary of Bartolo Gandobardi, negotiator for the Grand Road Rail Company of Alassia
Once, most of the Verdant Coast was part of a vast elven empire, where pale-skinned elves ruled over enslaved dark-skinned natives. But four centuries ago, the humans rose up in rebellion, and though the war was lengthy and costly and the losses staggering, the humans eventually managed to defeat their elven overlords and assumed control of the land.
Since then, the Verdant Coast was mostly left to its own devices, ignored by anyone except for a few traders from the Gawaris Desert who built trading enclaves on islands off the coast. Small kingdoms and cities rose and fell, but the life of the inhabitants went on without many changes. A century ago, explorers emerged from a vast underground passageway that stretched all the way from the Parginian Rim, but even that didn't get much attention
Then, fourty years ago, the Parginian city of Alassia, which was situated next to the entry to that passageway (now dubbed the Grand Road), decided build a railway through it, which would speed up travel between the two corners of the continent immensely, as well as open up many new opportunities for trade. Almost overnight, a fortress town (dubbed Luciano, after the councillor who proposed the project) sprang up around the exit site, and the railway continues to expand from both sides. These wealthy foreigners have upset the local power structures, as more and more young people move to Luciano in the hopes of earning high wages from the project, and traders, spies, and diplomats flock from afar to gain some advantage from the situation.
Industries
Life and Society
Those elves that remain in the region remain on the lowest rung of society, and many humans can't resist the chance to remind them that they are a defeated people. They usually do the things that many humans consider to be beneath them, like collecting garbage, and are prohibited from wearing weapons and armor (though many will have daggers and other concealable weapons on them). Their homes look dirty and run-down from the outside, though many elves actually are quite wealthy thanks to long-hidden treasures and through deals with outlawed items and stolen goods (more than a few elves make their living by selling poisons). Elves have a reputation for being highly magical, and so many humans buy magical trinkets (more often fake than not) or ask them to tell their fortune.
Since elves are universally light-skinned, the locals generally consider lighter skin tones a sign of elven ancestry (which is true in many cases, since the elves fathered a large number of half-elves), and thus a sign of someone who is generally untrustworthy and deceitful. Most people also tend extend this to foreigners from more northern climates, and treat them accordingly.
Government and Politics
Groups and Organisations
Religion
Important NPCs
Major Geographical Features
Dragon Falls: Considered among the most spectacular waterfalls in the world by those who have seen them, the Dragon Falls form where the waters of the Lake of Dragons come crashing down into the low foothills of the Verdant Coast. The area surrounding the falls are considered neutral territory among the neighboring tribes, and pacts, treaties, and marriages are customarily blessed with waters fresh from the falls. A large subterranean cave system is known to be behind the falls and rumored to be full of ancient treasures. Many young warriors have gone there on a dare, and not all of them have returned. But now professional prospectors from other regions have become interested in these caves, now that the region is opening up...
Isle of the Sorcerer: This small island is reputed to be the home of a powerful and apparently immortal sorceror, who allegedly turns every visitor into a talking animal. Oddly enough, according to some anecdotes these former humans seem to like their new shape, and will actively resist any efforts to change them back. As a result, the island is home to a large population of sapient animals - both former humans and their descendants.
Mondro: This large island off the coast is only sparsely settled. Most of it is covered by dense jungle full of savage animals. The only noteworthy inhabitants are the numerous pirate gangs that have their hideouts in the jagged coast. From time to time, some coastal cities have made an effort to hunt these pirates out and destroy them, but the pirates just withdraw to either the interior of the island or to the high seas and wait until the intruders have left. Thus, it has become a common practice to just pay the pirates to prey on the ships of other cities, though the results of this policy have not been much better.
Important Towns and Cities
Burisia (Small City, 63,217): When the humans triumphed over their elven overlords, they killed most of them. Those they did not kill, they marched into this city and forbade them to leave it. The elves had to survive in the city, a former provincal capital, without any outside help for more than 50 years, and many of them starved during that time.
Since then, the travel restrictions have been lifted - mostly because the humans became so fractious that it became impossible to enforce them - but most elves still live here, in the shadows of their former glories. No human remains alive who remembers the rebellion, but plenty of elves do, and they have had a long time to nurture their grudges and plan their revenge until the day comes when they reclaim what they see as their right.
The city itself seems fairly empty and mostly in ruins, but this is a deception - the elves have taken care to hide their wealth and resources from any human who might try to claim them. While humans will not be attacked if they travel in large groups out of fear of triggering another pogrom against the elves, they will be constantly watched and made feel unwelcome. Most humans are glad to leave.
As of late, quite a few groups of elven adventurers from Avareen have journeyed to this city to "help their kin". As the resources of Avareen are vast, the humans of the Verdant Coast may be in for a nasty surprise.
Joro (Small City, 51,443) Though its mines are relatively poor when compared to other regions, the mining town of Joro provides most of the ore needed by the inhabitants of the Verdant Coast. But with the Grand Road project nearing completion, the mines are worked harder than ever to provide the iron needed for the railway, and mining accidents are increasingly common.
Recently, a large number of expatriate dwarves from Gol Murak have been brought in to accelerate the mining process, and despite the fact that most of the dwarves are too old or infirm to serve as fighters in the war that country is involved in, they are working faster and harder than the humans. This has caused no little resentment, especially since the human miners know that once the Grand Road is completed, the Verdant Coast will have access to the bountiful mines of Gol Murak and they will loose their job as the mines become too expensive to maintain.
Nuovo Alassia (Small City, 56,891): The end point for the Grand Road project, Nuovo Alassia has grown rapidly in the few years of its existence. After the railhead to Tsiaro was completed, work started on building the continent-spanning underground railway from this end, and though the railroad cannot advance as fast from this end because of the sheer logistical challenge involved in transporting the neccessary equipment here, the tracks nevertheless progress well, and it is predicted that the two tracks will eventually meet somewhere under the Gawaris Desert.
Thanks to the sheer amount of money involved in the project, many people from all over the region have come to this town - most in search of a job, but others merely seeking to scam foreigners out of their gold. And some, from tribes that did not profit from the profit, are seeking to sabotage everything others have worked so hard to build.
Tsiaro (Small Metropolis, 521,357): The second largest city along the Verdant Coast is now poised to become the largest, since it is the closest large coastal city to Nuovo Alassia, and its harbor is large enough to be capable of handling the additional traffic predicted to flow in and out of the city after the completion of the Grand Road. Like Nuovo Alassia, the city attracts a large number of both enterpreneurs and con artists seeking to profit from the city's rising fortunes.
Important Sites
Regional History
Adventuring on the Verdant Coast
Adventure Seeds
The Lions of Tsiaro: The railroad work crews maintaining and expanding the burgeoning rail network between Tsiaro and Nuovo Alassia are suffering increasingly bold and brutal attacks from a pair of very large lions. The railway company is offering increasingly large bounties for whoever can get rid of these menaces, but the lions have shown an uncanny knack of evading traps or ambushing their would-be hunters.
These are actually a pair of fiendish dire lions, which explains their increased intelligence. The DM should play their cunning to the maximum possible effect, and give them as many additional hit dice as neccessary to make them a challenge for the party. And even if they are slain, follow-up adventures can revolve around the question just where these monsters came from, and if there are any more creatures like them.