Earliest Campaign Writing

“Nestled in the northeast shadow of the Sawtooth mountains lies the Halfling Commonwealth of Stoneborough. Therein dwell some 4000 inhabitants amid a four square mile area. Bounded by a ring of high hills awash in boulders, a second concentric circle of hills and stones establishes a square mile plateau in the community’s center. This is used as common and festival space. Residents make their dwellings in the hills, with their front doors mostly facing the wide ravine that divides the concentric rings of hills. Stoneboroughvians make sure to keep their windows bright and cheery, and their lawns well groomed.”

This paragraph and the continued writing on the document constitute the first-ever pencil-to-paper description of the Halfling Commonwealth of Stoneborough. Also, it represents one of the first prose writings for the Wildlander campaign. A few pages of loosely organized notes precede this one.

However, Dreyka is named as “Draka Candlewick”, which indicates that the correct spelling of her name had yet to be established. The page also contains the first-ever written use of the term “Stoneboroughvians,” although it appears it replaced a previously erased term.

It can’t be accurately said whether the map of Stoneborough had been created by this time. However, the description of Stoneborough in this document is clearly represented in the map. Also, the dimensions of the Commonwealth and the placement of the Ranger stations (which later evolved into guard towers) leads me to believe that perhaps the map had already been generated, if not labeled.

The writing also mentions Thrym’s journey down from the glacial plateau. “Monstrous peoples like Kobolds, Goblins, and Orcs,” threaten Stoneborough, as do a spate of kidnappings by “men and Half-Orcs thought to be slavers.” The final sentence of the page references “another Half-Orc…stirring up trouble outside a nearby inn.” This is Krebb, who had long since been rolled up by me.

Lavender Weatherworth is named as “a messenger from Hamsterfield.” The original NPC that I rolled up with Shane and Gabriel (when they rolled up Thrym and Dreyka) was Roscoe. However, Shane’s use of a melee-class character as his PC caused me to switch gears and roll up a rogue. When I wrote this document, the plan was in place to have Lavender be the DM’s party NPC.

It was only because of in-game machinations that the party wound up looking like it did. Roscoe won the stone throwing competition, and the townspeople rejected Lavender as an official representative. Also, when Matt came in as Alvy that meant that a traditional Wildlander Gang, with a Barbarian, Sorcerer, Druid, and Ranger, was possible to create.

The rest, as they say, is history.