It’s not surprising that Terrasylvae attracts a lot of creative people. It is a safe welcoming environment where we are all free to express our unique talents. Whether through art, writing, crafting, sewing, or any other form of making, almost all of us enjoy creating. We encourage people to share their creativity with the group so we can all enjoy the efforts of others. You’re creativity inspires others creativity and we are all lifted together. Lately we’ve been encouraging everyone to get involved with Lore building, or in other words, telling the tales of Terrasylvae.
Last week, everyone was invited to help fill in the map with places and things surrounding Terrasylvae and you responded well. Listed below are the locations that you submitted and they are fantastic! I hope more ideas will be shared and that we can hear these stories told throughout the group. Perhaps even at a campfire event.
A Place to Share Our Stories
I would like to continue sharing these stories, by including them on the website. We have an entire guild of accomplished writers known as the Scriveners, which is led by Draco, whose work I would love to promote here on the site.
Note: If you’re interested in joining the guild, you can find them in their Facebook Group: Terrasylvan Scriveners Guild.
These stories could be stories you’ve been working on, expanded stories of the locations listed below, and especially your own persona story. For example Lorcan, a member currently on Crusade, wrote up two persona stories that I’m sure many of you have already seen on the website.
I would love one day to read the stories of members like Ja’ika, Tilly, Elydrie, or Jay. Everyone of you has a story to tell about yourself or about Terrasylvae and through sharing it, Terrasylvae Lore will grow and flourish.
In One Month’s Time…
With that said, I have an invitation and a challenge. In one month’s time, *roughly*, I would like to have a story that can be shared on the website for the group to read. If you need inspiration, I would recommend using the locations submitted below as a starting point and build from there. Whatever you decide to write about, I know that you can have an influence on Terrasylvae Lore just as much as a Terrasylvan Mission at fencing practice can.
Locations
Created and submitted by you
Master Aaron Carter’s Fencing Academy
Nestled into the treacherous coastline lies an ancient fortress home to Master Aaron Carters Fencing Academy. All are welcome, enrollment is by audition.
Varinstomb
A small island off the coast a few miles holding a massive fortress with rich treasure, however it is infested with Norwegian undead, the draugr.
Ashenvale
In the dark recesses of the mountains lies Ashenvale, place of the werewolves. Dark rituals and the Lycan strain are cultivated here for those drawn to the moon.
The Lime Sink
Off a well hidden branch of a river are secret Limestone caves. Very few know its location and even fewer can navigate the paths there. It’s said it takes the luck of the fey to find it. A secret haven to those in greatest need. Also a wonderful place to have adventures that border on the otherworldly.
Peg’s Boots
Two large black granite rocks that look like boots laying down. They appear as though some giant, long ago, stopped to take a nap flat on their back and never stood up again. They lie exactly one mile from the border of Terrasylvae and are frequently used as the turn around point in races both on foot and horseback.
MacBrayne’s Folly Wall
A stone wall about 4 feet high and 20 feet long comprised of round, roughly head sized rocks from Northern Scotland. It marks the northernmost boundary of the lands under the influence of Terrasylvae.
The Clan Chief of the MacBrayne’s took a page out of Hadrian’s book figuring that if Hadrian could build a wall and claim everything on one side of it for Rome then he could build a wall and claim the other side for the MacBraynes.
He sent a serf to the south of England with a cart full of stones and told him to find a wife, and sire a family, and that the MacBraynes would support him if he and his children built the wall. The serf was to send back the cart back when he’d finished with that lot, and the Chief would send another.
The MacBrayne chief spent his life looking for the finest, round, Scottish stones he could find, sending cart load after cart load to the South. The serf worked his whole life to bring about the building of the wall. It all came to nothing so the locals called it the Folly Wall. The name has stuck and the locals now use it for games during the summer festival and as a berm for sledding in the the winter.
The locals also use the term ‘Folly Wall’ as a euphemism for a lot of work that comes to nothing.”You’re building a Folly Wall chasing after that dream.”
Canton Heath
A large tract of open, uncultivated land North East of Woodland. A wasteland overgrown with heather and shrubs. Mostly unoccupied except for a few humble farmers and miners. Few travel in it over night, and none leave the roads because it is easy to become lost in the heather and sink into bogs and swamps never to be seen again. Some say that at night the wind sounds like lost souls crying to find their way home.
Canton Village & Church
A prosperous village on the edge of Canton Heath. Their main production is wool and all the industries attached to that. Canton is large enough to support a church and Bishop. And is decent place for travelers to catch up on the news, rest, and get a meal. Friendly to most comers.
Woolly’s Tavern
Located in Canton Village the name is a play on words from the local agricultural production and the state of the mind after having visited the tap room. They specialize in spiced honey mead and Viking barley flatbread. It is a large, two story, stone building with wide deep fireplaces that have bench hearths so you can sit next to the fire. The second story is a long empty hall used for various meetings and gatherings. It has an inviting and cheerful atmosphere that the owners cultivate by knowing how to swiftly break up a brawl. Their motto is Be Friendly, or Get Out.
Heathstone
The name is a misnomer, it is actually a lot of stones in three concentric circles, miles out in the middle of Canton Heath. The standing stones, of the outer two rings, cover the gaps of each previous ring layer, so that when you are standing in the center of the inmost ring all you see is a solid wall all around you. Except for two circles cut, one each, into the east wall and the west wall, which line up with the sun at dawn and dusk on the solistice. Depending on your spiritual leanings it is either a pilgrimage site, or a place to be passed quickly by on your way to some place else.
Ellesbeth Cairn
A burial mound for Ellesbeth Peacebringer. The mound is surrounded on three sides by trees. A large rock pile comprised of small rocks, and shale on the bottom, and topped with large boulders, dominates the fourth side. This pile is said to have been formed by the mourners who came to her funeral, each bringing a rock to represent the burden of their grief that she had lifted in their lives. A small stream originating beneath the rocks flows outward into the surrounding Canton Heath. The Bishop of Canton, upon hearing of her death, said “She’d have been a Saint, but that she was pagan.”
A place of uncommon peace and tranquility. An old place that makes you feel like talking in whispers and saying prayers. Thoughts become clear here, and some say visions are had. Some have even received quests. For those pure enough in heart, that have been able to find their way into the cairn, they have seen the calcified skeleton of the Lady laid out on a hewn ledge, her hand stretched out over the edge in a position of blessing. The humble may kneel before her and place their head under her palm. Only those who have done so can tell the rest.