Excerpt from Threshold #13:
Cacklogallinia
Arrival Date
BC 250
On the Outer World
Cacklogallinia was a vassal state of the Kanastenid Empire of western Brun during its height in BC 590. A mercantile culture composed of gyerians, bird-like humanoids, Cacklogallinia was known as a trading center, and its inhabitants as shrewd and often times unscrupulous merchants. With the fall of Nithia in BC 500, one of the empire’s largest trade partners, the Kanastenid Empire began to falter. In BC 317 the empire began to crumble from within after an unsuspecting trade vessel brings an infestation of hivebrood, and the gyerians were blamed. By BC 250 the Kanastenid Empire was shattered, and the remnant territories of Cacklogallinia were known as the Land of Gyerians by invading ogre-kin of Suma’a and Gombar.
In the Hollow Moon
Since their arrival, the gyerians of Cacklogallinia have spread along the coastlands of three great seas in the Hollow Moon. The original settlements were placed in the grasslands along the eastern shores of Mare Tranquillitatis, and from there the culture spread rimward along the hilly and forested terrain between the southwestern shores of Mare Crisium and the northern shores of Mare Fecunditatis.
Cacklogallinian cities are spectacular hubs of industry and fortune, and gyerian merchants thrive in many ports and trade centers throughout the Hollow Moon, especially in the region of the Spindrift Sea.
Culture
Cacklogallinian culture is centered around trade guilds. For the gyerians of Cacklogallinia, the guild is almost an extension of family. From the moment that chicks are hatched, they are promised to the guildmasters, with little chance of moving outside the guild their family is affiliated with. Thus the chicks of woodcutters are destined to be woodcutters, while the chicks of farmers are destined to be farmers themselves. While most Cacklogallinians are born merchants, only those of the Factors Guild typically have dealings with outsiders. These are the gyerian “middlemen” who are trained to do business with neighboring races, as well as their own.
The northern cities of Cacklogallinia are agricultural hubs, producing a majority of the grains that can be found across the entire Hollow Moon. Ships often sail from the gyerian cities across Mare Tranquillitatis to the lands of Shaergarde in the west, though the nearby lands of the Margasta are studiously avoided. Southern cities, those between Mare Crisium and the Strait, tend to be more industrial in nature, focusing on lumber and finished crafts.
Fire Times
Very few Cacklogallinian cities are built near any of the more destructive volcanoes in the Hollow Moon, though many of the northern cities do have to contend with the periodic fumes that bellow forth from the Taurus Mountains. Sometimes these fumes are strong enough to destroy crops, forcing local farmers to seek shelter behind the nearest city walls.
Adventure Ideas
- A clan of werefoxes invades the northern territories of Cacklogallinia, plaguing the main trade route between the city of Clakkar and the Taurus gnomes. Putting an end to their depredations along the road is only the beginning, for the real danger comes from the werefox patron, a gnomish merchant wishing to usurp his gyerian competitors.
- Dark ships have sailed across Mare Tranquillitatis and into the port of Byrrk. Though their cargo holds are filled with goods, not a single crewman is to be found on any of the three ships. Unfortunately the ships sailed too close to the city of Maskelyne, the City of Shadows, and are now infested by the otherworldly beings.
- Guildmaster Kray’kaw has not been seen for several months, and what is worse is that her Tree-fellers Guild has stopped sending all shipments of lumber to Byrrk. Little does anyone know that Kray’kaw and her crew stumbled upon a nest of hivebrood in the timberlands of the far north. She, her crew, and all who have gone to investigate have fallen to the creatures, whose power is growing. Should they not be stopped, the hivebrood could decimate all of northern Cacklogallinia.
