Waynesburg - Intro and Map

Waynesburg is an adventurer’s paradise. It is the largest city of the north, the center of the northern culture, the great magnet of the region, for everyone. Waynesburg is located where the Great River flows out of Lake Byron - it is a perfect site for a trading town, and has always been settled. There are stories of a major settlement there as far back as the great legendary war between the elves an the drow. (Though if that is true, those wars leveled it completely.) There have been villages and towns there as far back as anyone can know, as far back as the early days of the kingdoms in the south. No one can say how many times it was destroyed and rebuilt in the dark ages, but it was always rebuilt, and finally blossomed into a major, and permanent, town in the days of the wars of Unification in the south.

In those days, streams of refugees from the wars sought refuge in the north, and many of them settled in and around the junction of the Great River, the Northflood, and the lake. By the end of the wars, the village had become a significant town, with a name and the beginning of fortifications. Wayne himself - one of the heroes of the wars, a member of the exiled royal family who eventually returned and unified the Kingdom - built fortifications, built a road around the rapids on the Great River, and gave the place its name. Within a generation, his fortifications had grown into a strong set of walls - from then on the city only grew. The northern lands were settled and civilized, with Waynesburg as their core. As minerals and other resources were discovered in the even wilder country north of the city, it grew even more powerful as an economic center. It became the anchor anchor for the political north against the occasional adventures of the south - when kings and dukes grew violent and ambitious, this is where their enemies fled; when orcs and barbarians threatened, this is where people gathered to defend themselves. It was a violent time - but the town grew nd prospered in spite of all.

In time, it out grew it's place as a frontier town, though it never shed its reputation. Parts of the city were, mostly, pacified, but much of it remained as lawless as ever. A reputation as a frontier can be a self-fulfilling prophecy. A reputation for danger draws men who wish to fight again (or with) that danger - so it remains dangerous. These days, you might say that Waynesburg is a kind of artificial frontier - certain parts of the city remain mostly unpoliced, as if to keep a supply of mercenaries close for the inevitable feuds that arise, and for the periodic troubles on the real frontier. But that won’t get in our way: that is what makes it paradise for those seeking adventure.