Thursday Fluff – The Maps of Pannithor (Part Two)
17th Feb 2022
Rob Burman
Hello and welcome to Thursday Fluff.
This is our new series exploring the lore and background around some of the most interesting aspects of the worlds of Mantic. We’ll be covering all game systems too, so whether it’s the creation of the Enforcers, the splitting of the Fenulian Mirror or the Salamanders and their love of sailing, this is the place to be if you want to find out more.
This week we continue to take a look at some of the incredible cartography that map out the world of Pannithor.
The Halpi mountains
Long have the wars raged between the Free Dwarfs of the Halpi Mountains and their maleficent Abyssal Kin to the North.
Under the stern eye of the Overlords of the fortress cities, the Abyssal Dwarfs had pressed home their advantage, sweeping through the old Dwarf holds, scouring the mountains of any remnants of the Free Dwarfs once and for all. This task had been entrusted to a cabal of Ironcasters, and foremost among them was Dravak Dalken.
But Dravak’s true prize lay deeper still. His campaign took him to Crag Hudd, breaking through the farthest deeps of the Dwarf mines, where riches awaited not just in the form of mineral wealth, but in untapped veins of magical power, conduits that criss-crossed Pannithor.
Driven by a lust for power far greater than the lure of gold and gems, the Abyssal Dwarfs dug deeper, ever deeper, until at last they broke through into a vast network of caverns and tunnels long lost to dwarf-ken. But not lost to all. The Abyssal Dwarfs stumbled into the midst of a terrible war.
Ratkin and goblins clashed in their thousands, squirming and pushing through cramped tunnels, fighting tooth and nail – driven to violence by the energy of the deeps, which they surely could not understand, but longed to control nonetheless. As one, they turned on the intruders, falling upon the Abyssal Dwarfs in a frenzy. The Abyssal Dwarfs sent forth their own Ratkin slaves. Some few of them saw a glimmer of recognition in the eyes of their free kin, and deserted the Abyssal Dwarfs’ cause. Most, out of fear of their masters, pushed through, buying time and space for the Abyssal Dwarfs to gain a foothold.
It was then that Dravak seized his moment. He had sensed the growing power from the depths more keenly than any other Abyssal Dwarf. His divided soul, so long a source of maddening torment, now lent Dravak new power… and new ambition. Unleashing a torrent of spells upon the foe, Dravak sent forth his alter-ego, the golem Infernok, to lead the charge. Smashing all before him, including Dravak’s rival Ironcasters, Infernok inspired the Abyssal Dwarfs to victory.
The Shires
In 2180 a large gathering of halflings came together under the direction of Bron Abbet, the leader of one of the larger clans. They met on the Ardovikian Plain in the lands to the north and west of the recently founded League of Rhordia. Abbet declared that he and his family were tired of the endless wandering. The land there was rich and fertile and nearly unoccupied. Abbet stated his intent to found a permanent settlement and invited the others to join him. There was a great deal of debate over such a radical idea, but in the end, the majority of the families agreed to stay. A region was staked out and named Abbetshire.
The chief settlement was made near a lake and named Yangmere— which in Tinker-tongue simply meant ‘Laketown’. Word of this quickly spread among the other halfling families in the region but most took a wait-and-see attitude at first. But after a dozen years without disaster befalling the settlers, many began to flock to Abbetshire and the population grew rapidly and other communities were founded. Countless years collating and subsuming all the knowledge of the peoples they had met on their travels began to pay off, and the accumulated wisdom was put to good use. At last able to make full use of their agricultural skills, Abbetshire was soon growing more food than was needed locally and trade was quickly established with surrounding human settlements, especially the nearby League of Rhordia.
With the passage of time, more and more of the wandering halflings were drawn to Abbetshire, although a few retained their traditional nomadic lifestyle, and even still do to the present day, either in small groups or in larger, travelling families. As the population grew and more land was cultivated, the halflings spread out and ultimately established four more shires: Tanshire, Daleshire, Southshire, and Hoddingshire, covering an area about sixty miles east to west and sixty-five north to south. It should be noted that while these lands were sparsely inhabited by local humans, they were not uninhabited. The halflings proved to be rather ruthless in evicting these people, and creatures, and making sure no more tried to settle in lands they now considered their own.
