The Flatlands
Atheneum
Considered a city of learning, where many scholars come for the purposes of study and research, the large city was dominated by The University, the center of knowledge for all the Former Lands. Although technically ruled by a council of leaders, it was an open secret that tenured professors at The University made the crucial decisions about the city’s future, which of course always favoured the expansion of The University, sometimes to the detriment of the populace.
The party came to Atheneum hoping to find answers to their questions regarding the mysterious hostile shadows and the antagonistic Professor Morphidel. With the assistance of several of the professors they did learn a great deal, but were forced to flee after exposing Morphidel as a powerful Shadow.
After travelling to the south by boat, the party received word that Atheneum had been occupied by the Army of Nerath, as their confrontation there had been blamed on hostile action by the Ministry of the Pantheon.
It turned out Morphidel had seized power there after dominating the minds of the other Professors. After Morphidel’s defeat at the hands of the party, Magnus conDoin stepped up and took over as sole ruler of Atheneum with the occupying army to apparently do his bidding. This eventually put him into conflict with a resistance movement led by Irwinyn Alser. He and Furnace hired the party to assassinate Magnus conDoin, who took him captive instead - only to discover that their actions were part of a much larger plan that included an invasion of Atheneum by the Knights-Errant.
Atheneum would be destroyed shortly after as the Shadows tore a hole into limbo, unleashing their full number onto the city.
Breezemarket
The city’s inhabitants often joke that the city is just a farmer’s market that got out of hand. The vast majority of crop harvested in The Flatlands come here to be bought and traded and often delivered under heavy escort to other regions. The locals tend towards farmers or descendants of farmers and trade rules the day.
Following the Battle of Cathedral, Breezemarket appears to have become a semi-secret base of operations for Knights-Errant fighting against the Army of Nerath in the north.
Flatlands Arena
Every region has an arena that invites potential champions to battle for the amusement of the crowds. Generally these duels are not to the death, but accidents happen and sometimes grudges need settling. Gambling on these battles is one of the common pastimes of those who can afford it, and make it to the arenas safely.
Tortonymous Bosch fought and triumphed in his first melee and subsequent escalation match, delighting and surprising local fight fans.
Gideon’s Camp
Once an outpost of the Silver Empire of Nerath, this ruin was partially restored by Gideon, the captain of the Town Watch of Whisperwood during his temporary rebellion against the Mayor. He and his ‘bandits’ have since returned to the village properly but the camp remains a defensible point of interest.
Greykeep Ruins
The ruins of a keep located to the north east of Whisperwood, which had a reputation for being haunted. The party ended up investigating and found that the haunting was the result of a vampire that had taken up residence in some sort of secret facility located beneath the keep. This was the source of the magical artefacts that carried the crystalline curse. They defeated the vampire and shortly after set off a failsafe of sorts that drowned and buried the site forever ending the threat of the curse.
The party would later learn that a tribe of Orcs moved into the ruins afterwards and have been fighting with local Goblins - a situation greatly beneficial to the townsfolk of Whisperwood.
The Trialwood
These woods’ ominous name comes from the time of the Silver Empire of Nerath, though the meaning behind it has been lost to history.
While investigating a clan of Orcs, the party encountered Professor Histories in a cave here that turned out to be hiding a ruin. He hired the party to investigate the depths of the ruins.
Whisperwood
A prosperous farming and fishing village presided over by Mayor Hanneman. Besieged by bandits, and monsters, (and shortly after the crystalline curse), the Mayor put out a call for adventurers that was answered by The party.
They were able to to reconcile the bandits, led by ex-captain of the Watch Gideon with the town and uncover the source of the curse under the nearby Greykeep Ruins. The village was since returned to peace, though questions remain unanswered about the creature masquerading as villager Talia Hanneman.
The party would return later to find the village prospering and discovered that they were considered local heroes.