First Zazamanc Sketches

Here are two seldom-seen views of the Dwarf-built fortress of Zazamanc. They predate the first session of the Wildlanders campaign.

Zazamanc began as a site-of-interest on the local campaign map, which was published in a previous post on this blog. Such a compelling site so close to the starting point of the campaign would surely be visited by the characters. Thus, it became a matter of urgency to develop it more fully before the campaign got underway.

The structure of the castle is designed around the traditional medieval mot-and bailey style. Here's a little-known tidbit: the style of Zazamanc is loosely based on various designs contained in a mini-book called "Castles" that I picked up while visiting the Tower of London. Although the London trip took place at the turn of the Milennium (I watched the clock strike 12 midnight on Big Ben when 1999 turned over to 2000), Zazamanc was not developed until over two years after that.

When I made the drawing, there was not yet any inkling who or what lived at Zazamanc, how it was built, etc. It was only a site-of-interest on the map that required further development. In the bottom sketch, precise measurements for the various walls and levels of the structure can be found. Originally, the castle was much larger, as you'll see in a subsequent post. The measurements here carried over into the more advanced sketches, which will also be featured in later posts.

On this page are more notes from the Curse of the Songblade campaign. What you see in the top left corner is a list of treasure that Jadot acquired from the Drow War party that he encountered on the Astral Plane. In a wanton, heinous act perpetrated by a rogue DM, Jadot was killed by implosion in the conflict.