Meat Cove Player's Map

1 hex = 5 miles

Meat Cove

Fort Matoon in Meat Cove is a settlement and wooden fortress populated by about one hundred colonists from the conquered Kingdom of Gresh. Most of the inhabitant subsist on and trade in dried fish, seal, and the meagre crops they can grow and forage from the surrounding land. Only two years old, there is no market economy to speak of. The colony is defended by the twenty strong militia, whose response to the frequent threats, both from the native horrors and raids from neighboring settlements is one of retreat to the fort. The settlement was named Fort Matoon in order to appeal to potential settlers in the old country (matoon being the colloquial term for lamb's flesh).

Personalities of Fort Matoon:

Sir Gilferd, Honourable Governor of Fort Matoon

Sir Gilferd feels that his settlement is vulnerable and failing, as colonists quickly move to more safe and stable colonies almost as soon as they step foot in Fort Matoon. Down to half it's original numbers, he knows that it is a matter of time before the settlement is annihilated by one of its myriad problems or another. This causes him to spend most of his time drinking in seclusion.

Gleena the Hag

Gleena is a 67 year old toothless greshian peasant woman who has lost her mind from the horror of watching the rest of her family starve and the deprivation she herself has had to endure. She seems to gain a certain joy in watching new settlers arrive and begin to share in her suffering. However, as one of the few surviving initial settlers of Fort Matoon, she knows as much about the surrounding area as anyone, and is a good source of information. She always greets new arrivals with a "Welcome to Meat Cove!" and a cackling laugh.

Steinhel, Imperial Banker

Steinhel is an imperial banker, a strange being that appears to be a human fully covered in red robes, gloves, high boots and an iron mask. He never leaves his post in the Fort, and will only speak of money matters. He does not sleep, nor does he eat. Money and goods deposited to him that are smaller than a stack of seal furs are accepted, paid for and then never seen again. Gold can be deposited to him and will be (for a 20% fee) reliably transferred to an account in the Old World. Such is the arcane nature of banking in the Empire.

Welcome to the New World

"It has been two generations since the His Omnipotent Greatness Batrachos conquered the Western coast of the Old World. Batrachos the Deathless' more recent successful wars in the East have given him a richness of slaves that have supplanted the traditional places of both the peasants, yeomen, and burghers all over his great, continent spanning empire. The conquered and displaced peoples are left with few choices to support their families: to try their luck in one of the great cities of the Empire, to sell themselves into bondage, or resort to resistance and banditry."

"Recently, the Emperor's Administration has hatched a scheme in order to provide the Empire with a much needed population sink. He has funded the establishment of colonies in the New World. These colonies are made of peoples as diverse as the Empire itself as the colonist's families are given a lifelong tax exemption, and the Empire's sophisticated and reliable banking system allows for the flow of New World treasure, goods and dark secrets back to the Old."

"Humans and humanoids have landed on the Western shores of the New World and established ramshackle forts and settlements. These settlements are largely left to govern themselves and are as likely to raid as to trade with each other."

"There is also another motive to the Emperor's plan of colonization. When the Elves and Dwarves of the Old World began to see Batrachos' success and foretold his future victory, they abandoned the Old World for the New, joining their Brethren in across the Ocean. The elves vanished into the impenetrable forests behind the Mountains, and the Dwarves plumbed into the very depths of the Earth. Their expertise in the manufacture of luxury and arcane goods is sorely needed and missed, and their hubris angered Batrachos greatly. Truly a king's ransom has been offered to any who can locate and capture a live elf or dwarf."

"...and so, all you on this ship, be you refugees, fugitives, adventurers, or revolutionaries, gaze out under this gray sky and upon the tiny wooden Fort Hope as we approach. See how it is surrounded by brackish swamp, rocky shoreline, dense black spruce forest and with the Toadling Foothills looming behind. This is the face of both hope and death. Most of you will die here, but you will die free and maybe, just maybe, Varuzon's Godly Death-Glance will pass by and you will become a legend!"