The Wasteland --- Place of interest with a town of 4000 souls in Aarnau

By Emirikol, in Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay

This area has my mind going..maybe a scenario…

~ Marienburg: Sold Down by the River: "..sometime after the departure of the Elves and the Dwarfs and before the arrival of Man, Chaos and evil came, spreading like a cancer from the north and the south. The Skaven, digging their tunnels like cracks meant to undermine the continent, burst forth from the abandoned mines and ravaged the surface. Within a few decades, the land was a ruin: the herds were slaughtered, the waters poisoned and the groves cut down. Marching like vermin into the north of this realm,they found the Fimir, a race of reptilian giants who themselves were remaking the land in their own blasphemous image. War was inevitable. For how long it raged, only the Fimir and the Skaven know, and certainly no one is asking them. The Skaven built great castles to hold their conquests, and slowly they pushed the Fimir back. In the end, there came a cataclysm that decimated both sides. Whether it was a last desperate effort by the Fimir, an attempt at final victory by the Skaven, or even a rebellion by the earth itself doesn't matter. Great waves of magic washed over the land and the earth convulsed and cracked. In a night, the castles of the Skaven and the holds of the Fimir were thrown down as the very bedrock heaved, broke and sank. Their armies were destroyed and their minions crushed or swallowed whole. By dawn the next day, only the land itself remained, nearly empty of life and hiding its wounds under a thick blanket of fog. Now it is a grim place where only the hardiest souls can hope to make a living, let alone prosper."

"..Amongst the downs, travellers find great clumps of exposed rock that break through the soil like broken teeth. Most think these are natural exposures of ancient bedrock, but some scholars argue that they are the remains of ancient civilisations, that the odd weatherings are really the faded sigils of pre-human stonemasons. Many have evil reputations, the blackest given to 'Rat Rock', a vast jumble of cyclopean blocks at the north edge of the Grootscher Marsh, several of which bear markings disturbingly similar to those left by the Skaven. Whatever the truth, few willingly camp in their shadows."

"At the far north of the Tumble Downs, at the end of a rutted track grandly named the "Old North Road", sits the border town of Aarnau. Site of the last remaining old noble house of the Wasteland, the van Buurens, this fishing and farming village with 4000 inhabitants takes seriously its self-appointed
role as guardian of the Wasteland's independence. Just what threat they guard against is an amusing mystery to Marienburgers, since the Elves of Laurelorn mind their own business and the Empire is hardly likely to march an army through this isolated corner of the Old World. Still, the 150- strong militia drills before cheering children on the public green every other Festag under the watchful eye of Baron Martinus van Buuren. The old codger has spent so much money on uniforms and equipment over the years that the men of Aarnau are known as 'Wasteland Peacocks', though none who
have seen them fight against Fimir warbands in the northern Tumble Downs will say that to an Aarnauer's face. "

..

That's an interesting map, where did it come from?

I didn't know the Altdorf Road extended so far inland (though it petered out at Nupstedt, with the Drakwalkd/Mirror Moors spelling the end of it there).

The map is from: www.marienburgcampaign.com

It's some kind of WFB campaign where they played both Man o War and ground battles. Interesting stuff and a nice original map. The map from Marienburg: Sold down by the river, is GW copyright so I'd be strung up if I linked to that (plus it's a crappy map to be sure).

There are no less than 400 pages on Marienburg done up over the years in the official document and then the other 200+ pages done up by the Black Industries site..YET

..yet, there is practically zero done on Marienburg's surrounding lands, including the waste. Considering there's a 4000 person port on the north end, Aarnau, I think a HUGE omission has occurred.

The fact that the wastes are a haven for the Fimir doesn't help, as they had been ignored from 3e WFB up until 2001 when they finally OFFICIALLY resurfaced by GW. The wastes, then had a de-facto -/ignore/ factor with them..of course there's little there..except the fact that it surrounds the MOST IMPORTANT PORT IN THE ENTIRE OLD WORLD ;0

Maybe now, we can get development underway :)

jh