Steve Long

From their descriptions, it's arguable which would be the worse fate for Ambrethel, Kal-Turak's campaign of conquest, or the freeing of the gods of Thun. If Kal-Turak is Ambrethel's Sauron, the Thunese gods are its Cthulhu.
But I'm not convinced Thun has the power to stand up to the Ravager of Men with their gods still imprisoned. Even if they do, they're unconcerned with the fate of the rest of Ambrethel, and believe in their inevitable reward for service to their gods. They'd stay out of the fight until K-T is literally on their shores. (See TA p. 286, "The Fires of Thun.") OTOH a direct conflict between the Ravager and these beings could destroy Ambrethel, regardless of who wins.
 
But the Thunese do believe the proper rituals at the right time and place are key to freeing their gods, so the scenario you suggest seems reasonable. But it's likely the PCs would spend the rest of the campaign looking over their shoulders for operatives from Thun trying to recapture them, or to kill them for revenge or to keep them from revealing their secrets.
 
BTW those gods aren't the only entities like them imprisoned beneath Ambrethel.
 
 

One of the parts of the Turakian Age that has always intrigued me is Thun.  Two ideas:
 
1.  (And this may be obvious)  That the ultimate defeat of Kal-Turak is brought about by the PCs manipulating events so that Kal-Turak must face off against the wizards of Thun (or even the gods of Thun!).  Maybe the PCs have subtly brought this about, or maybe the good guys must overtly ally with Thun against the greater threat of Kal-Turak.  (Sort of like how the US and UK allied with Stalin to stop Hitler.)
 
2.  A campaign-starting adventure:  The PCs are from the various parts of Ambrethel, but they have all been kidnapped by Thunese wizards to be sacrificed in some specific ritual with very precise requirements.  The PCs find themselves in a dungeon on Thun.  Their first adventure:  Escape from Thun!  As starting heroes, they won't be powerful enough to do that much damage to the Thunese, other than preventing the sacrifice ritual.  But that's OK - all they have to do is get to (relative) safety.  Once the PCs have survived this ordeal together, they band together as a long-term adventuring party.  It's lot less of a cliche than all meeting by chance in a tavern.  Now they have to figure out how to escape the pirates and get off of Aresea.  etc.

Stepping away for a bit from that whole Shaanda River kick I've been on lately , I wanted to address Nolgroth's concerns about finding interesting character "hooks" in the standard fantasy-game races included in Ambrethel. We've touched on a few of the more distinctive elements of their TA versions already on this thread, but for the moment I'd like to focus on the Dwarves. While they do conform to many of the D&D-isms we're all familiar with, there are a number of distinctive elements spelled out in the source book, with further implications, which could be woven into character backgrounds and plot lines.
 
Of all the non-humans in Ambrethel, the Dwarves may be the most numerous and widespread. Twenty named kingdoms of Dwarves are scattered across both continents. They frequently engage in trade with the realms of Men, or are hired by them for special construction projects, and in some cases have even closer relations. For example, the Dwarves of Blinndighaime, in the Snowthorn Mountains, made for Tassar (king) Borvyg of Khirkovy, his favorite weapon, the war-hammer Sitenka ("victory") (TA p 63). Those from Deepingdelve have been contracted to strengthen the defenses of the Mezendrian city of Athford in anticipation of an attack from Keldravia (p. 65). The kings of the Dwarf realms of Algarhaime and Noross in the Thurisian Mountains are personal friends of Crown Prince Wolfgang of Thurgandia, and he often spends time with the Dwarves, who gifted him with his enchanted helmet. (p. 314)
 
The Tornathian city-state of Hanoreth has strong trade alliances with Hordarsa and Zarkoreng, in the Ironheart Mountains, and the Great Ecclesiarch (theocratic ruler of Hanoreth) is frequently a guest of the kings of those Dwarf lands, and hosts them in return (p. 77). The human kingdom of Brabantia has an even closer alliance with the Dwarves of Korregdar, based on providing their craftsmen with Brabantian silver. The Dwarves have even gone to war to help defend Brabantia from aggression, and Dwarves from anywhere are generally warmly welcomed in Brabantia (pp. 139-40). [I have to wonder what will happen when Brabantian silver mines play out...]
 
OTOH some lands of the Dwarves have more complicated relations with Men, even approaching open hostility. The Dwarves of Delgalakh, Harkonn, and Rodathur are between the Sirrenic Empire and the Hargeshite Empire of Vashkhor, in the Skyclaw Mountains, and trade with both realms; but are concerned they may be forced to choose sides if the rivalry between the two empires of Men boils over into war. (p. 280) They may also have to contend with the frequent distrust, and in some cases fanatical hatred, by Vashkhorans toward races other than Men, no nations of whom have adopted Hargeshism. (p. 223)  OTOH Gunru and Tarkoll, in the mountain range called the Ayn Alach, are said to "keep to themselves at most times." (p. 108) In the case of Gunru that's understandable -- the map on p. 106 shows it bounded by the Chekuru Jungle and the Hargeshite Devastation. OTOH Tarkoll is proximate to both Vashkhor and Shar, suggesting something else may be behind their attitude.
 
Despite their friendship with the Prince of Thurgandia, the Dwarves of Algarhaime and Noross charge dearly to anyone for use of the secret passes they know through the Thurisian Mountains, and even blindfold travelers part of the way (p. 283). Garaktora does something similar with those who would pass through their territory in the Maha Torend mountain range, between Teretheim and Central Mitharia (p. 154 sidebar). Teretheim and Garaktora actually went to war over tarifs at the Teretha border city of Durgau, and although that was over four hundred years ago some Durgauans remain suspicious of all Dwarves. The impoverished kingdom of Nurenthia has little in the way of productive mines, because the Dwarves of Gabanaldazar control all the best mining in the region (p. 95).
 
As revealed on pp. 34 and 280, the Dwarven realm of Gasharth secretly aided the Lord of the Graven Spear, and thereby "descended into evil." They're currently strongly allied with Valicia, and while that might be considered a "good" relationship, the aspirations of conquest by the Valician king bode ill for the whole region. While Gasharth backing the Spearlord isn't widely known, many Dwarves are aware of it, which might lead to stigma for any Gasharthan encountering other Dwarves, whether or not they condone their nation's history and policies.
 
The contact and good relations between Dwarves and the Men of Brabantia,  Mezendria, Hanoreth, and Thurgandia could prompt certain Dwarves to sample more of Men's lands. OTOH others might have tragic histories through encounters with distrust, resentment, or hatred from Nurenthians, Teretha, or Vashkhorans. A Dwarf from Gunru or Tarkoll may grow frustrated with their nation's isolationism, or one from Korregdar with their dependence on Brabantian silver rather than exploring for new sources of their own.
 
The frequent contact with the Great Ecclesiarch of Hanoreth and his entourage could prompt a Dwarf from Zarkoreng or Hordarsa to convert to the High Church, even take up a crusade to promote and defend the Church. I can only speculate on how their fellow Dwarves might react to such a change of faith. The reaction could be even more extreme toward a Dwarf who became a Hargeshite -- it's debatable whether they would be accepted anywhere.
 
More Dwarven musings to come. 🧙‍♂️

Speaking of the Vornakkian Peninsula, one of my additions to the setting was the invention of a new city-state on the coast of the Peninsula between Sargyl's Maze and the Living Statues. Per my original history, Sargyllium was founded by the legendary pirate Sargyl. Noting the lack of a dedicated large port providing access from the rest of Arduna to the rich Vornakkian cities of Eltirian, Halathaloorm, and Kurum-Sathiri, Sargyl saw an opportunity to establish himself as the middleman for traders to and from those states. He and other pirate captains he recruited seized a large coastal town with a natural deep-water harbor, and with his new slave laborers and Dwarven engineers hired with pirate gold, built on the site a stoutly-fortified city with first-rate harborage. Sargyl's fleet soon brought the remaining settlements on its strip of coast under his sway, and made certain that merchants landing there were funneled to Sargyllium to do business. Sargyl and his successors took the title of Prince, since Sargyl claimed to have been a nyasar of Khirkovy driven from his land by a usurping rival.
 
In succeeding centuries Sargyllium has prospered, growing well beyond its initial defensive wall, and building the strongest fleet on the Peninsula. Two other factors have helped the city-state thrive. The Princes of Sargyllium inherited Sargyl's charts of the labyrinthine Maze of islands that bears his name, allowing his ships to successfully pursue the pirates who continue to hide among them. Those pirate captains have learned it's healthier to refrain from attacking ships bearing Sargyllium's flag. The rulers of the city-state have also secretly made pact with the dreaded Sharthak (shark-men) who frequent the Vornakkian Gulf, bribing them with much treasure not only to leave Sargyllium's merchant vessels (mostly) unmolested, but to attack vessels of competitors from other states. (Were this arrangement to become known to the wider world, the consequences for Sargyllium would be severe.)
 
Sargyllium's society reflects its piratical heritage. Its noble class is descended from Sargyl and the captains who followed him, who control all commerce in the city-state and take a "cut" of all transactions (minus the Prince's share). All nobles have their own private mercenary guard and armed vessels; the Prince is typically the noble with the most wealth and the strongest following, but all of the nobility constantly scheme to supplant him, as well as each other. Sargyllian society is almost openly corrupt. Bribery, blackmail, extortion, and assassination are common from lowest to highest level, and ruling dynasties rarely last past the second generation. However, the Prince and nobles are careful never to let their rivalries and racketeering become so open, extreme, or violent as to affect the flow of business.
 
The Sargyllians follow no particular religion, but the High Church, Hargeshism, and the Eltiriani pantheon are the most widespread faiths, accounting for most of the populace. Due to the importance of trade to their state, the gods of wealth from each of the three religions are particularly venerated. Many Sargyllians propitiate all three in hope of reward, referring to them as, "the Golden Trinity." Among the nobility, the cult of the Sharthak god Shatharak has a secret but significant following. Many Sargyllian nobles appreciate the Great Devourer's ruthless, predatory nature, and even practice human sacrifice to gain his favor.

There are certainly roads one can assume exist, even if they're not noted as such on the map.
 
The only reference to a specific road I can remember in the source book is between Zhor Cacimar in the Vornakkian Peninsula, and its port city of Ulugysha. (reference p. 120, and map p. 106)

Roads often also get made along the sides of rivers.  Perhaps not nicely paved roads, but worn paths and trails.  Those traveling without a water craft, will often follow rivers as well.
 
There are two roads shown on the map of Aarn on page 57, one going north and the other going southeast.  But if you look at the larger map on page 60, you'll see that there are no apparent destinations for these roads.  Presumably, they are there for the farmers in the countryside around Aarn to bring their goods to the city.  Which means that these roads likely end at the first reasonably-sized farming village they meet - and then become mere dirt paths beyond that.
 
In general, roads would be built between cities in the same nation (if at all).  Let's take Vestria as the first example from the first map on page 50.  If Vestria wished to invest in roads (they do cost money and labor to build), they would likely build them between cities that are not already connected by water.  So perhaps between Daravel and Ashburn.  Or between Daravel and Greyspan - or perhaps better, from Daravel south to the bend in the Greyspark River.  From there, a traveler can go downriver to Odellia or upriver to Greyspan.  Considering the political situation in Vestria, it is unlikely that there are roads connecting Colgrave, Toreth, and Skeld to the rest of the kingdom.  Although there could be a road from Ashburn to Brecon - or for less building cost, from Brecon to the bend of the Silverrock River, just north of the Enchanted Forest of Danaflor.  This makes for easy access among Brecon, Ashburn, and Teriadoc.  We aren't given much info about the Enchanted Forest, so I'm assuming that such a road's proximity won't cause too great a hazard.  If the forest is a problem, then the road would need to cut a wide berth around it.
 
Cities are shown in TTA that, like Brecon, are not along any river or coast.  On the same map, we see cities of Athring and Forgald in the Mhendarian Palatinate, and Ytheis in Umbr.  Presumably, these cities have their own sources of fresh water - wells, springs, or even a lake or pond too small to include on the map.  Because of these cities' isolation, they would be likely to have roads to another city within the same nation.  And also for other isolated locations, like Blackfairn and Gwinden Abbeys.  Not that these "roads" would need to be anything other than worn tracks through the grass.
 
Roads are often built to allow a large kingdom to maintain control over its various regions - roads make it easier to send soldiers to put down the rebellion in a distant province.  Roads are less likely to be built from one kingdom to another - unless they really, really trust each other, and have a mutually beneficial trading arrangement.

Well, the Valician Hills and Drakine Mountains sure look like one geological feature on the large-scale map. Then there's the Glimwash River that cuts across a corner of the mountains of Skeld (p. 50) and an unlabeled portion of the Ordring-Tarnwater-Loskell river complex cuts across a spur of the Nagyrian Mountains (p. 60). The Tarnwater also has a rather unusual course, flowing right up to the end of Hangclaw Mountains and Mount Melgar (ibid.)
 
Now, there are RL rivers that cut through mountain ranges. The Columbia and the Danube do this twice. But these rivers also have no alternate paths, and there are fairly simple geological processes that account for them. (The Columbia's case is especially clear. As the Cascade Mts rose, the preexisting Columbia cut through them; then again with the even younger Coastal Ranges. The Danube's case is probably more complicated.)
 
It seems especially unlikely to me that the minimum-energy path for the Tarnwater would happen to be right at the base of a mountain range. Erosion and uplift usually result in the land near a mountain range being higher than the land further away.
 
But then, Ambrethel is a world still shaped by the Godwars. It is possible that Earth at this time doesn't have plate tectonics. (It might even not be 4.5 billion years old: That history and geology is the retroactive result of the magical cataclysms thant ended the Turakian and/or Atlantean Ages.) For instance, the Glimwater's mouth might occupy the spot where Kilbern's sword struck the ground after cleaving Krim's arm. (Or some similar legend.) Turn it from a bug to a feature.
 
Dean Shomshak

AFAICT there are no roads on the maps of Ambrethel -- all those labeled lines are rivers. And while many of them start in mountain ranges, and the ranges often have rivers that start on either side, I've yet to find one that passes completely through a mountain range. The Shaanda River doesn't; it follows the long valley bounded by the Drakine Mountains and Valician Hills, which are separate geologic features.
 
But as Steve Long pointed out in his text from the Fantasy Hero genre book(s), for most civilizations during their history, rivers are roads. They provide quicker, easier, and (relatively) safer transportation, and very often formed the unifying factor between communities. They also make for an easily-defined border between political entities, and that frequently applies to Ambrethel.

Fine and sensible reasoning, Phil.
 
 
And perhaps Aarn as well, given that this proposed city would be trying to cut into their trade. Although to be honest, it probably wouldn't be much competition for Aarn. Verlichtenheim (which the Encyclopaedia Turakiana declares a city, even though it's shown as a castle on the map) and Sollare are the only settlements on the Ordring which might benefit from a diversion of trade. Aarn's market will always be much bigger.
 
It would require less magic for the Verlichteners to just build a canal around the Ettinstone and its attendant obstacles, to facilitate traveling further up the Ordring. An actual city might not be necessary or desirable -- at most a town to maintain the canal and provision the sailors.

That would make sense, and the implication of the text then means that these boats can't sail west from the Ettinstone, upriver on the Ordring from that point (except possibly for much smaller boats).
 
The next question is, what causes the Ordring to become wider and deeper from that point, given that a narrower, shallower river is splitting into two?   A small river does not split into two big rivers.  The simplest answer is that there are additional tributary streams coming down from the Nagyrian Mountains.  These are not navigable and are too small to bother showing on the map.  Perhaps they might even form a small lake around (or near) the Ettinstone.  This lake is filled with rocks, so that ships must sail along a particular path around the west side of the Ettinstone to avoid the rocks.  This might also explain why there's no city there.  The terrain is too rough near the Ettinstone, and the area where you could build a city is inconveniently far from the path the trade ships would have to sail.
 
Considering the proximity of the Nagyrian Mountains, the tributaries could be steeply-flowing rapids, possibly complete with waterfalls, which would prevent a city from being built on the north side of the river as well.  And maybe there's a cliff or a very steep bank on the west side of the Loskell, meaning that there'd be no place for ships to dock.  And the bank/cliff wouldn't even have to be that high to make it sufficiently inconvenient.
 
So no city around the Ettinstone because:
High cliff on the west side,
Rock-filled lake on the south-east side, and
Rapids coming in from the mountains on the north side.
But enough room to sail around the Ettinstone, against the current coming up the Loskell/Ordring, carefully avoiding crashing into the stone, and then with the current down the Ordring/Loskell.  Seems like a tricky maneuver for the sailors, but certainly one they can learn to do.
 
Adventure plot idea:  Some entrepreneurial wizards from Aarn want to build a city on the southwest side of the Ettinstone, and create some magical means of allowing ships to dock there.  Maybe they think they can magically carve out a harbor there, or let the ships drop anchor and load and unload cargo and passengers via permanent levitation magic placed in the area.  Business opportunities abound - if you could make such a system work.  The Verlichteners might see this as a way to gain power and eventually independence from Thurgandia.  And Thurgandia might also have opinions on the matter.

Thank you for asking about this and prompting me to re-examine the evidence, because I now believe you're right.   TA p. 67 states that the city of Banska-Morav, on the Beralkan coast of the kingdom of Szarvasia, occupies several islands in "the Ordring Delta." Deltas form at the mouths of rivers, so the Ordring River must flow into Lake Beralka.
 
Hence your outline of the Ordring's course is the most logical: headwaters in the Thurisian Mountains, flows east while branching off into the Bernina and Loskell rivers, absorbs the Tarnwater south of the Nagyrian Mountains, turns north and empties into Lake Beralka; leaving the Shaanda River as the lake's only major drainage. But IMHO it would make the most sense for merchant boats to be able to sail the Loskell and Ordring Rivers all the way between Aarn and Lake Beralka. While the description of Aarn's landscape downplays trade to and from the lake, Aarn and the rivers are the only water access between Beralka and the Sea of Storms/southern coast of Arduna, which has to be economically important. Between that, Aarn's proximity to the High Pass to Tornathia, and it being the only deep-water port between Bellinberg and Tatha Gorel, there would be enough mercantile traffic and stimulus for it to grow to be the largest city in the world.
 
BTW I always wondered why no city had grown up around the Ettinstone. My personal explanation is that the site is sacred to the Druids, like other notable natural formations. If it's so big that it actually blocks water traffic, I would just move it to where the Ordring branches into the Bernina.
 
 

The entire Beralka-Shaanda-Mhorec water system appears in function comparable to the Mediterranean Sea, in that its facilitation of travel and trade has created a vast economically and culturally integrated region. It also strongly reminds me of the Nyr Dyv in the world of Greyhawk, albeit both inland seas are much larger.

I agree that the paths of rivers on the TA maps can sometimes get a little convoluted, particularly the Tarnwater et al in the Eastern Westerlands, as you note. In the case of the Shaanda River, TA p. 80 clearly states that it flows from Lake Beralka to the Sea of Mhorec. That's consistent with a few features of geography I try to keep in mind when deciphering these river directions: usually rivers flow from higher ground to lower ground, and from smaller bodies of water to larger ones. So, all the rivers shown with one end in mountains or hills can be presumed to flow from that end. Those rules suggest that Beralka has two outflows, one via the Shaanda River to Mhorec, the other the Ordring River, which merges with the Tarnwater and later the River Loskell, before finally emptying into the Sea of Storms. OTOH the Sea of Mhorec appears to drain only via the Larnaca River, into the Gulf of Velkara and thence the Khelvarian Ocean.
 
Lake Kalkana in Mitharia does indeed look to empty via the Chatac River into the Jade Sea, and the long Dialoso River to the Uncharted Seas. I don't think there's any hard-and-fast rule about how many outflows a lake can have, though. I believe it depends on the local geography, the size of the lake and how much inflow it has. Mhorec, Beralka and Kalkana are all huge by modern standards, with multiple major rivers draining into them. By my measurements and research, the Sea of Mhorec has more than half the surface area of the Mediterranean Sea. Lake Beralka is comparable to the Caspian Sea, modern Earth's largest "lake." Lake Kalkana is more than twice the area of Earth's next-largest lake by area, Lake Superior; and is said to be notably deep.
 
(BTW mad props to Steve Long for coming up with the dizzyingly vast array of names for places on these maps.)

Speaking of the Shaanda River, one thing that bugged me about The Turakian Age was the lack of indication on the maps as to which way the rivers flow.  This is not always obvious from the maps.  After much careful examination and reading of the text, and re-reading of the text, and re-re-reading of the text, I have come to the conclusion that the Shaanda flows east, out of Lake Beralka, into the Sea of Mhorec.  But I wish they had just put a few arrows on the maps to indicate this.  And also for the Ordnung/Tarnwater/Bernina/Loskell/Erasarth/Hreshule/Whitsuth river system - which has sources in the Thurisian Mountains, the Hangclaw Mountains, the northern Drakine Mountains, in two different places, and the southern Drakine Mountains, and flows through the Nagyrian Mountains; and then flows into the Sea of Storms in two places, and also into (or out of?) Lake Beralka.
 
I'm certainly no expert in geography, but as I understand it, lakes and inland seas, usually only have one river flowing out of them. but Lake Kalkana seems to have two.

Thank you for all that salient input, Dean. It was my hope in collating this setting info and ideas that they'd be a springboard for other GMs.
 
In that vein, I'd like to continue my discussion from this post of my suggestion for a campaign location in Ambrethel, this time focusing on the Shaanda River and areas immediately adjacent to it. There are several details in the source book that are easy to overlook. Geographic details would be easiest to follow on the map of the Eastern Westerlands on TA p. 74. Again, anyone thinking of playing in a game set here should probably skip over this post.
 
Despite the heavy mercantile traffic along the Shaanda, no major city has grown to take advantage of it. Most people attribute that to the rugged landscape of the river valley, sandwiched between the Valician Hills and the Drakine Mountains. But TA p. 284 reveals another, more insidious reason. After the slaying of the Spearlord the shattered shards of the Graven Spear fell into the river, which has been "poisoned" ever since, bringing ill luck to the Shaanda settlements, as well as attracting dangerous monsters to them, so that none of them can grow very large. Finding and removing any or all of the shards could remove that curse and bring enhanced prosperity to the region. OTOH a shard would likely grant malevolent powers to its holder, and gathering them all might allow the reconstruction of one of the most potent and sinister magic weapons in history.
 
Two pairs of kingdoms share either end of the Shaanda River, one on each side: the Drakine realms of Basidrun and Seldrion, and the human kingdoms of Tyrandium and Valicia. The specific adventure potential in each realm is described in their individual entries; but there's particularly interesting stuff going on toward the end of the river at Lake Beralka.
 
For one, the ruined former Drakine city of Chonath, sacked and abandoned during the Drakine Wars (p. 75), is now only frequented by Goblins inhabiting the area, and other "monsters." Chonath was once home to powerful wizards, and adventurers sometimes brave its dangers in search of magical treasures. One particularly potent artifact, the so-called Dragon-God Staff, is said to be able to summon and control dragons, but has never been found. Recovering the Staff could become a priority for several realms in the Westerlands and Mhorecia facing looming threats from dragons: Khirkovy (p. 63 sidebar), Szarvasia (pp. 282-83), and the Sirrenic Empire (p. 84, "The Desolation Of Skarm").
 
The map on p. 74 appears to show Chonath sitting in a valley on the Shaanda River side of the Drakine Mountains, which is at one end of a pass through the mountains leading into southern Basidrun and its border with Vendrigal. If Chonath could be reclaimed and that pass made safe for travel, it would open a direct land connection between the Shaanda and the heart of the Drakine Realms. That's a prospect the Syndics of Chiref -- the mercantile oligarchy ruling Basidrun -- would doubtlessly pay much gold to bring about.
 
The Beralka end of the river terminates in a large, unnamed swamp, inhabited by Ran-tari (frog people). Basidrun and Valicia both claim the swamp for its obvious strategic value, and have fought each other for control of it. It could make for a poignant scenario if Ran-tari refugees from their latest conflict start making their way down the Shaanda River, begging the city inhabitants for help defending their homes. (But the Ran-tari might not be such innocent victims, at least not any more -- see below.)
 
Basidrun has attempted to drain the swamp by magic so they can claim the land (I would expect Valicia to have tried that as well), but the Ran-tari "have thwarted their efforts with powerful counter-magics" (p. 75). I have to wonder where the shamans of the Ran-tari obtained such potent magic. It's possible one of those shards of the Graven Spear ended up in their hands, bringing with it implicit attendant negative effects. It's also possible the obstacle has nothing to do with the Ran-tari. Sargelioth Zir, the capital city of the Lord of the Graven Spear, was raised by his magic from the waters of Lake Beralka not far from the mouth of the Shaanda River. With the Spearlord's death the city collapsed beneath the waves. (See TA p. 15.) Its malignant influence could be affecting the spells to drain the swamp; and perhaps even corrupting the Ran-tari dwelling there. Ending that influence is only one of the possible reasons why adventurers might seek out the sunken remains of the Spearlord's probably demon-haunted city.
 
Although not stated anywhere, it's my theory that the swamp was actually created by earthquakes and floods from the fall of Sargelioth Zir. That disaster would undoubtedly have destroyed any settlements in the area. Given the value of control of the mouth of the Shaanda River, it's very possible a Drakine city could once have stood there, likely a rich one. An abandoned city full of treasure, lost in a big swamp full of humanoids with a siege mentality... 'nuff said.
 
When I next return to this subject, I intend to outline the adventure potential in the vast Valician Hills abutting the Shaanda River.

Getting back to the Ulimar Jungle...
 
This setup has good adventure potential. Indeed, you could build a campaign (or at least a story arc) around the jungle and dealing with its inhabitants. As it happens, I presented such a campaign premise in the part I wrote for Masters of Jade, for WW's Exalted. For background, the Guild is a world-spanning commercial organization. Much of it was designed as an unholy cross between the Triangle Trade, the Opium Wars and the East India Company, but I tried to slip in a few suggestions that commercial exploration did not necessarily have to be Eeevil. Here's an excerpt:
----------
<2>Trading Posts and Voyageurs
At the other extreme from the massive caravans, lone voyageurs paddle canoes and walk forest trails deep in the Eastern wilderness. Some of the Guild’s most precious medicines, such as age-staving cordial and seven bounties paste, are made from plants that only grow in places no caravan could ever reach. Voyageurs also hunt rare birds and animals for their pelts, parts and plumage. For living treasure, they risk disease, toxic animal, plant and insect life, and the lethal attention of hungry beasts, maddened spirits and unfriendly natives.
 
In Nathir, a feather-worker takes delivery of gleaming purple plumes that shall complete a priest’s ceremonial cloak. A master swordsmith pays a full dirham for jars of forest mimic blood; it will quench a new artifact, the Lying Blade. One cloaked and hooded voyageur presents himself at a side-door to Doctor Alethia’s fortified compound. He — she? it? — brings the great physician living, disembodied arms taken from the Wyld, as replacement limbs for the maimed and very rich. Or maybe something else.
<snip description of Doctor Alethia>
 
<3>Trading Posts
Instead of hunting rare plants and animals directly, some Guildsmen think it makes more sense to befriend the natives and pay them to do the work. The catch is that the intrepid trader must visit the natives where they live… and in the far East, that often means up in trees that may grow a mile high. The Tree Folk and other Eastern tribes feel comfortable in trading posts that resemble bird’s nests or spider webs of living vines. Visitors from civilized lands find it takes some getting used to. With this much money at stake, they make the effort.
<snip description of voyageur Jinru Rose-of-Dawn>
---------------
So: Explore the Ulimar Jungle looking for valuable (magical?) plants and animals, try to avoid or befriend natives as needed. If the latter, get involved in their problems and conflicts, with each other and the wider world.
 
Or reverse it: The PCs are Ulimar natives facing both promise and peril from outsiders.
 
Dean Shomshak
 

The difficulty you may be missing, is print costs. Your friend made his adventure specifically as a PDF, with no concern given got print costs, or distribution. His project was a solo, fan created work. Hero has to plan that their projects, even though unprinted, are prepared for print, and legally covered. So that means some cost. So Hero generally limits their print output to two color. Four color printing with page bleeds is vastly more expensive in terms of labor costs, materials (coated paper), and full color, painted art, which often also needs longer deadlines. Your friend hopefully got permission for the publication rights for the art they used. That would be something Hero would have to pay for, that your friend might slip under the radar for. 

Did your friend sell the adventure (and paid for the rights to use the setting)? Did he print the adventure? Bind it? Ship it to game stores, or directly to purchasers? If so, bravo, very impressive. If not, consider the overhead involved.
 
Also, was this something he wanted to make money from, or just created for personal satisfaction?

Upthread on this post, I outlined what I thought would make a good starting location for a Turakian Age campaign, and why. But there are quite a few other interesting elements to that location stated or hinted at in the book, which I'd like to bring up for consideration. I may use more than one post to lay it all out, so as not to overburden anyone with all my blathering at once. 😌 Note that this will include some GM's Vault material from the TA book, so anyone wanting to play a PC in the area might want to look away.
 
One of the elements I most wanted to pin down was the undefined "hill folk." The vast Valician Hills, and the kingdom of Valicia, obviously share a name, although they're distinct (despite the King of Valicia wanting to bring the Hills under his dominion). However, TA p. 79 notes that Valicia was settled by "Men from the Valician Hills, who spoke a language more akin to that of the Mhorecian lands than the West." P. 88 also states that the Tyrandines of Mhorecia, whose kingdom of Tyrandium abuts the southern and eastern Hills, speak Valician as their main language. That leads me to conclude that the Tyrandines, Valicians, and hill folk all belong to the same ethno-linguistic group. Exploring how I would run that for my own games, I would name the hill folk the Valici (distinguished from the Valicians), and pattern their culture after traditional Highland Scots clans. The Valici consider themselves a people distinct from their neighbors, and harbor distrust and resentment of the Valicians for their ambition and attitude of superiority.
 
The above has some bearing on the inhabitants of the central Shaanda River, with whom the hill folk regularly trade, and who are only superficially detailed. As that major trade route is described on TA p. 80, the Shaanda is dotted with large towns and small cities, none of them dominating the whole region. Ethnically the area would probably be very diverse, due to the many travelers on the river; although the largest groups would likely be Men of the Valician ethnicity, and Drakine. The most frequent languages spoken would be Valician, Northern Drakine (common language of the Drakine Realms), and "Trade-Tongue," a composite of several major languages of the Westerlands (see TA p. 198).
 
For my own games I would want the cities (named ones are Blackrond, Garwyn, Ishthac, and Telisarn) to be large enough to be interesting, but small enough to be manageable. I defined them as ranging in size from 20,000 inhabitants up to the largest, Ishthac, at 40,000. Each city exerts hegemony over its neighboring smaller settlements. They vigorously compete among each other for wider influence and a larger share of the river trade, but are quick to unite, militarily or diplomatically, against any threat from the larger kingdoms at either end of the Shaanda. Because of that potential for aggression, as well as the threat of "monsters" coming down from the nearby Valician Hills, the settlements are probably well fortified and likely maintain citizen militias as well as full-time city guards.
 
I decided Ishthac would make a good PC base of operations due to its size, and its location near the geographic center of the Shaanda River (see the map on TA p. 74). None of the Shaanda cities have their cultures and societies defined, so they could be given whatever qualities a GM thinks would be interesting and useful to their game group and purposes. For my purpose I would want Ishthac to be a genuine "good-guy," a place PCs would feel justified in defending. So I would give it all the more "progressive" qualities of the various nations around it: tolerance of different ethnic groups and religions; legal equality between males and females; banning the slave trade (although transients owning slaves could bring them through the city); and a semi-democratic government similar to that of Tavrosel (see TA p. 85).
 
In my next post on this subject I intend to further elaborate the considerable adventure potential of the region surrounding the Shaanda River.

Money.  And complexity--wrangling artist royalties and copyrights is not fun.

I am not so sure that setting books don't sell. White Wolf did a great many of them, from Chicago by Night for Vampire: the Masquerade to Compass of Celestial Directions: Autochthonia for Exalted. It seemed to work okay for them.
 
Though some of this may be a function of branding and the audiences this attracts. WW was setting-intensive from the start, and attracted readers who liked that. Rigorous and robust game mechanics, OTOH, were... how shall I put this politely... not their main selling point. Hero, in contrast, generally seems to attract people based on game mechanics more than setting development. (Apart from a bazillion Enemies books for Champions.) I suppose it became self-reinforcing.
 
Dean Shomshak

If no one objects, I'd like to continue my exploration and elaboration of Ambrethel, this time examining the Ulimar Jungle. The largest jungle on the continent of Arduna, it forms the southern border between Mhorecia and the Westerlands. It's described on TA p. 93 as "a thickly-forested, rainy region where even few Elves care to dwell. Although some tribes of barbaric Drakine live within the Jungle's confines, for the most part the Ulimar is home only to wild creatures." Yet p. 47 notes the Ulimar as holding one of the largest populations of Seshurma (lizard-people) in Ambrethel. Less than fifty miles off the coast lie the Elrune Islands, three relatively small islands forming a "kingdom" of Elves, which is tributary to the nearby realm of Men, Besruhan.
 
In the contradictions about the jungle I saw an opportunity to add some diversity and character/story potential. First I filled up and divided the Ulimar among the different races in its vicinity. I expanded the kingdom of Elrune to all of the presumably more pleasant southern coastal region of the jungle. Besruhan once attempted to conquer the kingdom, but found themselves caught in a protracted guerilla war against foes adept at fading in and out of the thick growth. Eventually Besruhan agreed to withdraw their forces and allow the kingdom self-governance, in exchange for annual tribute from Elrune, and the establishment of a trading post by Besruhan on the outermost of the Elrune Islands, now known among Men as "Traders Isle." The post supplies shipping between the Westerlands and Mhorecia, and provides a site for Elrunean Elves who wish to trade with the outside world and interact with other races. The GM's Vault section of the TA source book notes on p. 93 that raids by the Sharthak (shark-men) on the Elrune Islands have grown more frequent, for unknown reasons. With the arrangement above, both the Elruneans and Besruhani would have vested interest in investigating and stopping them.
 
The northwestern part of the Ulimar Jungle is the home of the Seshurma. Although some of their tribes are hostile and aggressive toward outsiders, others engage in trade with the Elves or the neighboring Tornathian city-state of Sarkund (see TA p. 78). That contact sometimes encourages more adventurous Seshurma to travel out into the wider world as mercenaries or adventurers.
 
To the northeast is the territory of the Ulimaran Drakine. Descendants of those Drakine who fled into the jungle to escape the wrath of Men during the Drakine Wars, they've reverted to a more "barbaric" way of life. Their sahishas (alliances of families which are the foundation of Drakine society) have evolved to become more like tribes controlling particular areas. The Ulimaran Drakine remember how their ancestors were driven from their homes, and hold a xenophic hatred toward all other races. They frequently skirmish with the Elves and Seshurma, and sometimes raid the settlements of the Besruhani, or trading caravans to or from the Cheldar Pass into Tornathia, for both loot and revenge. They distrust even Drakine from elsewhere, and usually kill members of other races who enter their jungle on sight, or more slowly if they're in the mood for "entertainment."
 
 

I am only sad, not angry, that HERO doesn't have the budget to make books like WotC does.  I remember the old 1st ed, deendee books, that were also all black & white, and a lot of the art was primitive, and didn't relate to the text on the page.
 
I fully recognize that it takes a significant amount of talent to draw a good picture.  And it takes even more to draw a picture of a specific person, creature, or place and give it the right feel and personality.  And it takes yet more talent to draw all this from pure imagination, based on a writer's text description.  You can go to Mount Rushmore and draw what you see, but you can't go to Aarn to draw the colossus.

I'm out of likes for the day, but LL echoes something I've been tired of pointing out since 4th ed.  The writing quality of Hero books is stellar.  The art direction is not.  The pages of Hero books look like Word documents.  Compare them to any book from WotC or GW.  In fact:
 

 
 

 

 

 
 
Colored headings.  Page backgrounds. Atmospheric yet readable fonts.  Table borders.  Icons to convey game concepts.  Margin art.  Full bleed printing.  I mean, I get that Hero has never had anything like a competitive budget and all these things are expensive, but I've always dreamt of having Hero books that were coffee table quality.  Instead, we got well-written but hard-to-read blocks of italicized text.  I will always love Hero as the best game system ever devised, but the art direction has always been disappointing, especially for a game that is based.  On.  Comic.  Books.

You express your issue most eloquently, Phil. A great deal of the artwork in the TA book is indeed quite generic. Aside from pictures representing individuals, and the geopolitical maps, most of it has no explicit context to any particular place or event described in the accompanying text. In a few places there is implicit context if you've already absorbed some of the book. For example, p. 10 which you mentioned, since the previous pages discussed "The Earliest Days" of the setting, and we see three groups of people apparently separating, I always assumed it represented the division of the Ardunans under Khor and Ordon leaving Sirrenos and his followers behind, as they set out to find new homes away from the Drakine. Another would be p. 273, of a man in a rugged, frozen land approaching an ominous-looking tower, which I figure represents someone trying to sneak into Darkspire. As for the cover to the book, it could very well refer to a plot seed from p. 291, "The Archway To Iluria," a time-travel adventure to that great city before it was destroyed.
 
But all of that relates to what IMO is probably the greatest weakness of the book in terms of presenting a playable setting: vast breadth, but shallowness in bringing specific places to life. There's more than enough here for a GM to build such things for a particular campaign, but they would have to invest the time and energy themselves, or else crib from other published sources for art, city maps, and the like.
 
I know you appreciate that art is among the most costly components of a game book. I don't know whether commissioning a lot of art illustrating specific things would cost more than generic, but it would certainly require more intensive logistics in layout. And as the kind of artist/draftsman who draws a straight line when he's trying for a crooked one, I sympathize over your longing for more such talent.