The game take place in the Europe of late medieval times, only darker and grittier than our real world. It’s a medieval Europe where mythical creatures and magic exist; and their influence on human history was for the worse.

There are mountain ranges to the south and west of your map. You have to cross tall mountains in order to reach the lands to the south and the middle sea (the Mediterranean Sea). Italy and Spain are not only separated by mountains from the rest of the continent, but their own territory is also quite mountainous, once you move inland away from the coastline.

Mountains are forested at the base, rocky at the top, and many of them are covered in ice and snow, all year, as you reach the peak. Summer is hot but quite short. Autumn and spring are rainy. Winter is long and snow is abundant (you can get enough in one night to block the door of your hut).

Think of:

• Forests
• Rocks
• Ice and snow
• Rain
• Winter

Throughout the rest of the continent, center and north, the land is flat, although hills are common and often used as location for a castle, a tower, a church, or a cemetery. The land is fertile and the climate is favorable enough, although summers are hotter than you’d like, and winters colder and longer year after year, as if something was suddenly wrong with the weather. There are plenty of rivers, many large enough for barges and boats to navigate and use for travel and commerce. There is a large network of ancient imperial roads still in decent condition that can be used to move around the main cities, but nobody is taking care of those roads and they’re going to fall apart, eventually.

Think of:

• Flat fields
• Hills
• Rivers
• Ancient roads
• Weather

When you think of woods, think of them as the main feature of the land. They extend to the size of kingdoms. Humans have just barely started cutting trees at the edge of the civilized areas, but woods, thick forests, remain the main feature of the land.

When you travel from town to town, you travel mostly through woods, with the exception of a few patches of cultivated fields. When you climb mountains, there are mostly trees around you, unless you climb high enough. Hills are also covered in trees, for the most part.

Woods are not just trees, they slow down travel unless you move on the road or on a path; they cut your line of vision; they mask the features of the land you travel across; they favor ambushes; they hide the monsters you fight; conceal the places you’re looking for. Woods are the heart of The Wild (”vildan”).

Think of:

• Huge forests
• Tall trees
• Thick vegetation
• Slow travel
• Short visibility
• Orientation
• Ambushes
• ... The Wild (”vildan”)

Human settlements are small points of light in the middle of a dark sea of trees

Towns are the standard location for the character’s interaction with human NPCs. They are bigger than villages but smaller than cities. Most buildings are still built from wood, but the homes of the nobles, the artisans, and those who accumulated wealth, are built in stone. It’s not uncommon for buildings to have a second floor, or maybe even a little tower. Towns are “urban” environments yet surrounded by farms. While cities depend on travel for food and other goods, towns are self-sufficient; while villages depend on traveling traders, towns have artisans and can provide the characters with most of what they need.

Think:

• Smaller than cities
• Larger than villages

Think urban but farms all around

There is a church in every village and there is often a monastery or an abbey within a few days' walk from most places. Ordinary people are supposed to maintain certain moral behaviors, and it’s not uncommon for someone to be excluded from a community based on some religious pretense.

While most folks go to church once a week, or even more often, and at least pretend to respect Christian morals, ordinary life can be a different matter.

It’s not about pure blood anymore: there are merchants as wealthy as any noble, or even richer than kings. It’s not about valor anymore: a crossbow can take out a knight in armor from a distance, with no shame. It’s not about raising the commoners to arms: an army of professional mercenaries will make short work of them. It’s not about owning the rights to the land: The Wild (”vildan”) is the real lord here. Nobles begin to sense the decline of their caste. While a few smart ones will use their privileges to transform their families into something modern, most of them cling to their former glories with pride, disgust for the current times, and stupidity.

Think of:

• Pure blood
• Lack of money
• Change
• Land
• Decline
• Privileges

Most people live simple lives in villages or small towns, although the major cities are now more common and many - especially the young - move there seeking fortune. The majority of the adventures, though, will take place in the heart of the continent, where The Wild is strong and lingers just at the edge of civilized areas.

Commoners are not stupid; most of them possess enough common sense to see through bullshit and enough pride to defend their basic rights. Even so, the social order is still deeply unbalanced in favor of nobles - or of those strong enough to make a name for themselves.

Politics is simple enough: there is a local authority, and usually that’s about it as far as commoners are concerned, unless a major war breaks out and a major army is drafted. For most of their lives, though, peasants have to deal only with the local noble, the constable or local judge, and the nearest priest or monks.

Think of:

• Simple lives
• At the edge of The Wild
• Pride and basic rights
• Unbalanced power
• Simple politics
• Everything is near

When making an NPC, consider this list of possible professions as inspiration:

• Farmer
• Woodcutter
• Shepherd
• Servant
• Hunter
• Fisherman
• Carpenter
• Tanner
• Tinsmith
• Basketmaker
• Guard
• Jailer
• Boatman
• Artisan
• Shoemaker
• Tailor
• Gamekeeper
• Mason
• Baker
• Butcher
• Blacksmith
• Stonemason
• Jeweler
• Gunsmith
• Physician
• Herbalist
• Perfumer
• Merchant
• Bard
• Prostitute
• Bandit
• Thief
• Vagabond