GUTSHOT! takes place in the rootin’ tootin’ world of Spurth. The five great peoples of Spurth each have their own unique homelands that are detailed below, including some of the more notable towns, settlements, and places in each. When you make your character, be sure to take note of their hometown, as the place you grew up has a large impact on your personality and outlook. Each hometown has a hint as to how someone from that place might behave but it isn't a hard and fast rule.
A Flat and Dry Land
Large bodies of water are rare on Spurth, and oceans are non-existent. Being a completely flat world, there is an actual end to Creation that one can easily fall off, assuming they can even make the perilous trek to get to one of Spurth’s many definitive edges! Fea have ventured to the edges of the world due to the horrific dangers of such an expedition, and those that make the attempt do not return.
Home Sweet Home
Below is a broad overview of each of the regions of Spurth, with a sample selection of some well-known Settlements in each. While there are far more towns and places of interest crammed in every corner of the world, the ones noted below are among the most famous. When you make your character, make sure to choose a hometown for them and take note of the Roleplaying Tips listed for each Settlement. Where you grew up has a big effect on your personality and character, and Spurth is no exception. These hints are just suggestions, of course.
The home of the Settlers is idyllic and green, with flat plains and picturesque hills dominating the terrain. Lakes and rivers sparkle in the bright yellow sun, and the Settlers enjoy some of the most fertile farmland in the entire world. Long expanses of the Hayseed Hills are dotted with farms and ranches, and neighbors tend to live miles apart. Towns and Settlements in the Hayseed Hills are simple affairs, and functionality and pragmatism trump ascetic appeal. Some would consider the Hayseed Hills boring or lacking in panache, but the easy-going, simple nature of most Settlers reflects itself in the land they inhabit.
Peppersprig (Capital)
Perhaps the friendliest place on Spurth, the people of Peppersprig believe in friendliness, community, and general kindness. The good-natured folk of Peppersprig always believe in being hospitable to strangers and following the teachings of Father Cactus. Open and friendly to outsiders, Peppersprig is a place where people take things slow and steady. The Sheriff of Peppersprig is Henry Finkus, a kind-hearted fellow with a big bushy beard and an eternal smile. It is said that the jovial old gent has never drawn his pistol once.
Roleplaying Tips: Natives of Peppersprig are well-meaning and kind but tend to be more than a bit...unworldly. Coming from such a tight-knit, happy place tends to make one insulated and naive once the harshness of the greater world is finally revealed. You tend to see the best in people and look on the bright side of things, perhaps even to your own detriment.
Muletooth Creek
When one thinks of the average Settler, they probably are thinking of someone from “The Creek”. Muletooth is less a settlement and more a large plot of land comprising several feuding families that live on large homesteads and tend to prefer their privacy. Considered to be simple and backwoods even by other Settlers, those from Muletooth Creek often hail from massive families and live among their brood. Creekers are proud to live off the land, rarely going “into town” to pick up supplies.
Roleplaying Tips: You’re self-sufficient and always put your (massive) family first. Chances are very good that your family is in a bitter, ancient feud with another family from the Creek that is just as large as your clan. These family grudges tend to have truly foggy origins, and no one can quite recall who wronged who first.
Fort Revival
Founded by a small band of religious extremists and built up into an impressively defended compound, Fort Revival is home to a splinter sect of Father Cactus-worshippers called Cactologists. Cactology posits that Father Cactus will imminently destroy the world in a rain of deadly spines and that only the purest among Settlers will be saved from the salvo. Reverend Rolly Blurning is the head of the Cactologists, and his fire-and-brimstone services are a terrifying sight to behold. He and his followers have turned Fort Revival into a massive walled settlement where they brace for the end of the world, holding a burning and sickening hatred for all non-Settlers.
Roleplaying Tips: You fell for Reverend Blurning’s propaganda and fiery sermons, but watched as Cactology became something twisted and perverse. You fled the Cactologists and made your own way in the world, hoping to never see the inside of the Fort’s imposing walls again. Surely, the church of Cactology considers you an apostate, and there are few sins more dire...
Dustbone
Sometimes called the unluckiest place on all of Spurth, the desperate community of Dustbone was once as green and lush as the rest of the picturesque Hayseed Hills, but a mysterious drought began to plague the land about 100 years ago, and there has barely been a drop of rain ever since. The skies of Dustbone are hazy and covered in a sandy cloud where the sun never shines through, and the land is dry and crusted over. Nothing much grows in Dustbone, save for weeds, turnips, and sickly livestock. That being said, the people of Dustbone are renowned for their pride and ruggedness, and consider living in this inhospitable region to be a mark of honor and pride themselves on their indomitable endurance. As you may have guessed, dust storms are common here, and one best take shelter once the howling winds begin. Some dust storms have been so severe that they are capable of sawing cattle in twain.
Roleplaying Tips: Life is hard, but so is your resolve. People from Dustbone pride themselves on enduring hardship, and there isn’t a storm rough enough that you can’t weather. You probably prefer a simple life with little in the way of creature comforts and amenities, and anything above bare minimum is considered excess to your hardened sensibilities.
The enigmatic Elves are natives of a wild, majestic land that is renowned for its awe-inspiring canyons and strangely shaped rock formations that sprout from the earth and streak towards the heavens. Herds of massive buffalo shake the earth as they roam the lengthy expanses of this shrine to the natural world. Of all the inhabited regions of Spurth, Deepwind is by far the most untouched by the hand of civilization, and the Elves wouldn’t want refuse to have it any other way.
Six Spears (Capital)
There was a time when the Elf Tribes warred openly with each other over resources and hunting grounds. These brutal conflicts rarely brought about anything positive, and it became obvious that there were far too many other threats surrounding the Elven people for them to spend time fighting amongst themselves. Seeing the folly in infighting amidst a rapidly changing world around them, the Chiefs of the six Great Tribes of Deepwind gathered for a peace summit that ended with each wizened elder stabbing their spear into the earth to commemorate the occasion and symbolize an end to the infighting. Since then, the settlement of Six Spears has been the largest settlement in Deepwind. Violence is forbidden here, and all Tribal conflicts must be settled outside of the sacred site. All Tribes are welcome in Six Spears, and it is here where the Council of Chieftains meet to discuss the future of the Elven people. This small group wields great power, and their stoic words have far reaching consequences.
Roleplaying Tips: The founding of Six Spears was monumental to the normally insular Elven people. It unified the Tribes (both great and small) and turned your people from incohesive, infighting bands to a unified global power. Even as the world changes around you, the future looks bright as long as Six Spears stands.
Farfeather
A trading post where only the finest crafts are made available for purchase, Farfeather is the financial hub of the Elven people, where only the most quality goods are brought to market and proudly displayed. Haggling over price is a grave social insult to the proud, fair merchants of Farfeather, who demand fair compensation for their wares. Some of the finest leatherworking, weaving, and pottery can be found here. Merchants here will gladly sell to non-Elves, but often at increased prices.
Roleplaying Tips: You admire quality above all else, finding functionality and craftsmanship to be far more important than flashy extravagance.
Hunter’s Hall
Located high in the canyons overlooking a great expanse of prime hunting grounds, Hunter's Hall is one of the most dangerous areas in all of Spurth, and is surrounded by all manner of dangerous beasts and other hazards. The lands around Hunter’s Hall are ripe with natural predators, and those who lack cunning and skill often find themselves between the jaws of something larger, stealthier, and hungrier than them.
Roleplaying tips: You are focused and driven when tracking your quarry, often to the exclusion of all else. You hail from a place where caution and cunning are the keys to survival, and a single second of lapsed attention could spell certain death. You are a proud trophy hunter, and often adorn yourself in the treasures you've amassed from your prey. To you, the hunt is sacred.
Graycloud Retreat
A small commune dedicated to all manner of spiritual enlightenment has grown over the last few years into a bustling settlement teeming with new ideas and philosophies. The charismatic Elf known as Flies-Higher leads this feather-clad hippy commune, and seems to gain more and more groovy followers by the day. Graycloud Retreat is a place filled with beaded yoga mats, sweat-lodges and several fertile fields and caverns that sprout all manner of hallucinogenic plants and mushrooms alike, which are tended to with nigh-religious zeal by members of the commune. Flies-Higher is a very forward thinker, and accepts anyone, regardless of Elven heritage or not, into his cult philosophical band of idealistic truth-seekers.
Roleplaying Tips: To you, the inner world is far more important than the cruel material prison your corporeal form has been anchored to. You want, above all things, to expand your mind and its horizons, and transcend the pettiness of the flesh. This herculean ordeal will obviously require a bit of herbal assistance, and you will readily use any means possible to elevate your spirit. Beyond freeing yourself, you seek to free others, and will gladly guide any other lost souls through their perilous spiritual journey, opening as many third eyes as you can along the way.
Nuevo Tarrera (Capital)
Legend posits that the magical city of Tarrera was built by an ancient civilization purely out of gleaming silver. The people of Tarrera were a proud bunch, and the tales say that they worshiped silver instead of the Bone Lady. To punish the Tarrerans for their hubris, La Dama de Huesa swallowed the city into the underworld, where it is alleged to remain to this day. Nuevo Tarrera is built atop the ruins of that place, and the capital of the Gnomish region is a place that attracts explorers and treasure hunters far and wide, who often delve deep beneath the city in hopes of finding this legendary location. A great many of them never return from those depths. The legendary Gnome Explorer Valgamma hailed from this famous place, and a gleaming statue of him is located in the center of the Settlement to honor his memory.
Roleplaying Tips: Imagine it, a city of pure Silver just waiting there beneath your feet for those bold enough to just dare to find it! Gnomes from Nuevo Tarrera are inquisitive to the extreme, leaving no mystery unsolved. You probably inquire a bit too much about the world around you, which can tend to test the patience of others. “Why?” might be your favorite word.
Dazrigal
One of the most war-torn settlements in all of Spurth is the troubled settlement of Dazrigal. Here under the boiling sun, a slew of Banditos shoots it out daily to control and expand their turf. Brutal territory wars are commonplace, and there is no law in Dazrigal, which is precisely how the gangs prefer it. Recently, a charismatic gang leader known only as El Sonriente (The Smiling One) is attempting to consolidate power by uniting all the Bandits of Dazrigal to focus their nefarious attentions on mutual benefit and commercial gain. Should this enigmatic figure succeed in his goal, all of San Rojas would quiver under their combined might.
Roleplaying Tips: You were raised in one of the most violent places on Spurth, and you’ve seen sights that would make a lesser person quiver. Perhaps you were a former Bandito who turned their life around and now walks the straight and narrow. More likely, you were one of the unfortunates who were born in a place where bloodshed and violence are commonplace, forcing you to flee in search of a better life.
Cala Veras
This gloomy city is situated in the most haunted region of Spurth, being built where the wall between the living world and the Underworld is the most cracked. Rotting, paper-skinned denizens of La Dama de Huesa openly roam the streets of the settlement, and it is here that worship of the Bone Lady is at its most powerful. Cala Veras is a sacred site for those spooky practitioners of Bone Magic, and many who take to the traditional magic of the Gnomes make a pilgrimage here to give offerings and attain further dark insights.
Roleplaying Tips: You hail from a place where the Lady of Bone’s influence is at its strongest, and this has left a mark on you that all can feel. Whether you are a practitioner of Bone Magic or not, you are probably a bit more morbid than most, having a grim sense of gallows' humor that tends to make others uneasy. You most likely have an enormous respect for the Lady of Bone, and grew up alongside creeping, crawling residents of her expansive, maze-like Underworld.
Ixuapan (Icks-OO-uh-pan)
Beyond the sun-blasted deserts of San Rojas lies a thick, fog-shrouded jungle realm cloaked in impenetrable fog. Amidst this dangerous landscape rests a single settlement devoted to cataloging ruins and studying the long deceased Tarreran civilization. Many ancient ziggurat ruins dot the dangerous jungles, where teams of Gnomish archaeologists do their best to uncover the secrets of the area. Legends of a lush paradise Oasis hidden away in the deep fogs of the dense jungle often inspire Gnomes to set their residence here. Ixuapan is the only proper settlement in the steaming jungles of southern San Rojas, and is mostly populated by studious Gnomes seeking to learn all they can about the thriving civilization that preceded them. It is here that the famed Gnomish archaeologist Professor Umberto Ramirez Cabral and his students dutifully excavate the copious ruins that dot the sweltering jungle.
Without question, the homeland of the industrious Dwarves is the most technologically advanced place in Spurth. A slew of majestic mountain ranges stretch as far as the eye can see here, with a layer of pure white snow giving the area an awe-inspiring beauty. Due to the horrific difficulty of traversing the terrain, the Monarch Peaks make use of an elaborate system of cable cars that connect Settlements to each other and make travel possible. Those who choose to brave the harrowing mountain passes and the dangers therein instead of making use of the convenience of the sky lifts rarely find their destination unharmed (if at all). The air of the Monarch Peaks is crisp and thin, and newcomers find an adjustment period is often necessary to acclimate to the native elevation. Beyond nearly impassable mountain ranges, another danger of traversing the Peaks comes in the form of escaped, highly dangerous inventions and contraptions that escaped the control of their creator. Rampaging Golems and clockwork automatons roam the perilous mountain ranges the Dwarves call home, adding to the dangers found there.
Longlane (Capital)
This bustling city (yes, I said city) is the most populated place on Spurth, and is a glorious testament to the technological and cultural acumen of the Dwarven people. The cobblestone streets of Longlane are filled with motorized vehicles and each lantern in the city crackles with the hum of electricity. To an outsider, the capital city of the Dwarves seems like some kind of science fiction realm where gadgetry and gizmos only thought to exist in dreams are everyday occurrences. Longlane is filled to the brim with museums, debate halls, foundries and factories that keep the Dwarves on the bleeding edge of culture and innovation. Grossly expensive and beyond extravagant, only the richest of souls can afford to call Longlane home.
Roleplaying Tips: You hail from the most culturally and technologically advanced place in the entire world and will take any opportunity to remind others of the fact. Nothing seems good enough for you, and the world outside of Longlane seems barbaric and uncivilized by comparison. You are often left aghast and agog by the lack of intellect and manners in those around you, and can come off as quite condescending, even when you mean well in your attempts to improve the social habits of others.
Cellany
This strange collective of eccentric artists and...outside-the-box thinkers excel at all things creative, and some of the most famous painters, poets and thespians were born and raised here. Cellany is a place where style is paramount, and many truly baffling fashions and styles can be found in an ever-changing revolving door of trends. Many traditionalist Dwarves find the beatniks and new age artists of Cellany to be quite tiresome, but no place on Spurth is more infused with the spirit of creativity.
Roleplaying Tips: People just don’t understand you, man! You have, like, the soul of a true artiste and you cannot be shackled by traditional social mores. Your ideas and ideals are truly innovative, and the established rules and regulations of society bore a vivid creative soul like yourself. The artists and poets of Cellany are each as varied as they come, but all agree that creativity is the very height of true understanding.
Gargoyle Point
A reminder of the hubris that tends to plague the Dwarven people, Gargoyle Point was once a rich mining town that was ravaged by greed and reckless overmining, causing a massive collapse that devastated the vast majority of the town. With every single glint of Gold stripped from this once-prosperous settlement, all that remains is a skeletal ghost town with a population of the dispossessed and the depressed. Largely forgotten and rarely spoken of by Dwarves as a whole, Gargoyle Point is a place where dreams (and souls) go to die.
Roleplaying Tips: Many of the residents of Gargoyle Point once enjoyed the very heights of success and fame but were chewed up and spat out by the ever-changing fads and innovations that seem to rage through Dwarven society. Perhaps you were a hot-shot philosopher who had your pet theory debunked in spectacular fashion, or you enjoyed overnight mining successes after hitting the motherlode on your gold claim, only to waste away your wealth and esteem and end up destitute. Those who choose this place as their hometown may trade the Dwarven Birthright Lifestyle Edge at character creation for any other Edge EXCEPT the Charmed Life one.
Scrap Iron Row
A secluded haven for the genius minds of Dwarven inventors and those who favor the company of machines and devices over that of people, Scrap Iron Row is a sparse community of frazzled inventors and technologically adept hermits who tinker tirelessly in their fortress laboratories, revolutionizing science and innovation for the benefit of the world at large. Surrounding these massive workshops is a seemingly endless junkyard of discarded parts, frazzled inductor coils and the remains of failed experiments. Beyond the frequent junk-avalanches that can easily swallow the unwary whole, it is not uncommon to encounter malfunctioning, rampaging automatons roaming the landscape, making the Row a dangerous locale to traverse on your own.
The humid and murky swamps of Shay Baroux are filled with marshlands and patient, lurking crocodile monstrosities that hungrily watch for any juicy, fleshy morsels unwise enough to wander too far into the murk. It is here that the enigmatic Loa are at their strongest, and these fascinating middle-spirits watch the world of the living with glee, finding the show provided by mortals to be infinitely entertaining.
Vaudelaire (Capital)
The ultimate party city, the Orcish capital was famously built atop a murky swamp completely unfit to support its weight. Over the years this has caused the entire city to slowly sink into the cloudy water and sloshy soil. You’d think that this inevitable fate would damp the lively mood of Vaudelaire, but this only amplified the playful spirit that infuses the people and places here. “We’re all doomed, so live it up!” is the motto here, and the colorful streets swell with strange parades and all-hours revelry. Drinks flow and all manner of curious substances are consumed by the ton, and no pleasure, no matter how decadent, is outside the sticky grasp of a visitor here.
Roleplaying Tips: You’re from a place where the party never ends, and you probably find life outside of Vaudelaire to be boring and far too slow-paced for your well-practiced taste. Why’s everyone so dour and prudish? Don’t they know how to live? When you celebrate, you go hard, and often must spend several days recovering. Others most likely find you to be a complete hedonist, but where you’re from, that’s just the order of the day.
Chalon Rochelle
This is less a settlement and more a collection of large riverboat casinos where fortunes are risked and lost by the minute. Only the highest of high rollers can find a seat on one of these legendary vessels and walk out a winner, and the only law to be found is the draw of the card or roll of the roulette wheel. Each riverboat in Chalon Rochelle runs 24 hours a day, and each one specializes in a particular game. Cheating is the ultimate sin in this place, and those found guilty of it are thrown overboard and left for the very well-fed gators who tail the massive riverboats while waiting for their next meal. They rarely need to wait long.
Roleplaying Tips: The luck of the draw is the only thing that matters in this life, and you are at your most comfortable when challenging the odds. Risk translates to reward, and you are most likely fascinated (or obsessed) with games of chance. You are quite possibly highly superstitious and have a collection of strange beliefs and traditions that others find preposterous.
Larchambault
This settlement consists of a collection of structures set on rickety stilts that stick down into the muck. A collection of rickety (often faulty) bridges connects the rotting buildings and simple huts to each other, giving the settlement a primitive, savage appeal. Larchambault is a sacred site where the Loa are said to be at their strongest, and you can find small, simple shrines to some of the more well-known of these curious middle-spirits. Many come to Larchambault to leave offerings in respect to the Loa, and many of the residents here are Vodun who entreat the Loa regularly. Some will act as intermediaries between the client and the Loa in question for a hefty price, of course.
Roleplaying Tips: You come from a simple place where comforts are few and far between, and you prefer spiritual wealth to the material kind. Your dress is most likely simple, or perhaps even savage. Strange charms and trinkets probably decorate your flesh, and face paint is a common marking of someone who hails from this curious place.
Brivantaine
A massive class battle is brewing in the Orcish settlement of Brivantaine, where a disgustingly wealthy cadre of plantation owners work their employees to the bone, demanding grueling work hours for menial pay and sub-standard treatment. Adding more fuel to the fires of rebellion here is the masked highwayman called The Green Ranger, who has taken it upon himself to wage a one-man crusade against the injustices of the wealthy, stealing from their lavish coffers and giving to the poorest of Brivantaine. As you might expect, this only emboldens the wealthy landowners to grind those poor unfortunates under their boots even harder, only adding more flammable materials to this impending powderkeg. The wealth and debauchery of the elite of Brivantaine is reaching truly excessive levels, and when (not if) the downtrodden rise up against the ruling class, a procession of green heads will certainly roll…
The tragic duo of Rushmoore and Valgamma is a modern lesson in the dangers of unchecked ambition and hubris. After their doomed expedition into the new frontier, countless others disregarded the moral of their tale, and flocked into “The Ruin” by the score. In short, Valgamma’s Ruin is a land of extremes. What’s good is exceptional, and what’s bad is truly hideous. Meat from game is juicier, fruits and crops grown in the lush soil are almost comically ripe and tasty, and when gold is struck, the payoff is truly monumental. There is no middle ground here, and the pendulum swings between a lush paradise during the sunny, cloudless day, and a dangerous hellscape when the night comes, unleashing all manner of nightmare creations into being.
The Ruin houses enticing rewards for insane risks, and the 5 great cultures of Spurth have flooded into it in search of riches and fame, willing to brave the overwhelming dangers provided in this truly fertile and new land. The Ruin has only recently been open to newcomers, so permanent settlements are few and far between, and the ones that exist are growing more and more each day. It has been 10 years since the Great Spiral was tamed, opening the way into the strange frontier.
No, I mean REALLY strange...
One thing needs to be perfectly understood about The Ruin: It is a magical, surreal place. No, I mean really. This extends beyond mere monsters and seeps into the very core of the land itself. Mapping out The Ruin is an impossible task, as the time it takes to get from here to there seems to fluctuate on a regular basis. Landmarks seem to pop in and out of existence at random, and a trip that takes one week one way could take one day the other. In short, the rules of time and space don't always work the way you would expect here, and interesting inconsistencies are aplenty in this new, odd land. Things in The Ruin are not complete madness, mind you, but time and distance follow very, very broad rules. If you're looking to find a landmark off in the distance and start riding towards it, you'll get there (eventually), but on Monday it might take you an hour, while on Tuesday it might take you three, and you might stumble across a few interesting (read: dangerous) things that were not there the last time you came through. In short, Valgamma's Ruin is a place where adventure is commonplace, and the standard rules of reality take a back seat to the astonishing and exciting.
This is the very essence of GUTSHOT! Have fun.
Travel
Those who prefer more traditional travel can take a stagecoach into the Ruin and try their luck that way. There is safety in numbers, of course, and a Stagecoach is often the cheaper option. Besides this, many passengers are distrustful of Dwarven ingenuity, and find the smog-belching trains that the Dwarves have created to be untrustworthy and newfangled deathtraps.
Threats
Bandits: As you might expect, where people flock, crime swells, and Valgamma’s Ruin is no different. When the new frontier opened up, some of the cruelest, most wanted bandits in Spurth relocated and fled into the new, wild frontier, willing to face the dangers there rather than live under constant pursuit for their foul crimes. The lawless nature of most of The Ruin suits them just fine, and they find wide-eyed newcomers to the frontier in search of riches succulent targets for predation.
Monsters: By day, Valgamma’s Ruin is a picturesque landscape of endless plains and majestic mountains. It is a prairie unlike any other. When night falls, the shadows birth forth horrid creatures that defy explanation and slaver for hot blood and tender flesh. All manner of curious beast can be found in The Ruin, as if guarding all the wondrous treasures that Valgamma’s Ruin offers. Even the most logical Dwarf scientist understands that creatures that defy scientific explanation are a fact of life in The Ruin, and they remain baffled as to the obviously supernatural nature of the region.
The Mentarium: The Dwarven Professor Blanch DeWitt was a highly respected, prominent psychotherapist with a wide array of curious beliefs about the brain and its untapped ability. The brilliant Professor was so mentally sharp that she developed actual Psychoactive powers that allowed her to manipulate objects with thought or sift through the memories of another being. Her cunning acumen and mental breakthroughs gained her a loyal following of psychic devotees whom she shared her knowledge and secrets with. As her influence and fame grew, Professor DeWitt gained wealth and notoriety for her discoveries.
Tragedy struck one day as her grim secret was uncovered: Professor DeWitt was amplifying her own mental powers by eating the brains of others. This sickening practice left her adoring populace aghast, and the Professor and her followers were banished from the Monarch peaks and shamed for their vile practices. With no place left to go, The Professor and her followers journeyed to Valgamma’s Ruin, where she branded her refugee organization The Mentarium, and they settled roots in The Ruin so that they could resume their gruesome research, feasting on any juicy brains they happen to come across to charge their strange psychic powers.
The Red Whisper Tribe: A sad tale of the Elven people spoken in hushed whispers, the Jokachi Tribe of Deepwind were once revered for their ability to commune with the spirits. One fateful evening, shortly after the Great Spiral was tamed and Valgamma’s Ruin became revealed to all, a strange spirit began visiting the Jokachi in their dreams, lulling them towards the new land filled to the brim with new, previously unknown spirits. The Jokachi made the perilous journey into the ruin and after a harrowing journey, they finally came face to face with the spirit that had enticed them.
Unfortunately, said benefactor was a twisted, crazed spirit of madness that shared its dark secrets with the Jokachi, shattering their delicate mortal minds and turning them into rampaging devotees of the nefarious, twisted being that they now worshiped. In that moment, the Jokachi were no more, and The Red Whisper Tribe was born. This roving band of marauding Elves show no mercy or restraint, attacking any non-Whispers on sight. Elves of other tribes are granted no quarter either, as the Red Whispers believe that only a sacrifice of gore, violence and bloodshed appease the new malefic spirit they worship. Red Whispers all have blood red eyes and adorn themselves in the flayed skin of their enemies, often using peeled flesh as leather armor. Warbands of Red Whispers roam Valgamma’s Ruin, giving the native monsters that reside there a run for their money when it comes to pure carnage and bloodshed.
A note on Settlements in Valgamma’s Ruin: The Ruin was only discovered 10 years ago, and as such, not enough time has passed for the locations therein to impart any sort of ingrained personality feature to those born there. That being said, none of the places detailed below have Roleplaying Tips for characters hailing from those lands.
Omen (Capital?)
The legendary (and only) friendly Settlement of note in Valgamma’s Ruin is the very last hint of civilization before the sprawling frontier and its hidden treasures (and infinite horrors) can be experienced. Omen is a true mixing pot of folks, with each of the five great cultures being represented and mingling together each and every day. This often ends in a clash of ideals and traditions, but disputes are mostly kept under control by the gruff, no-nonsense Settler Sheriff Archibald Thackley, whose towering frame and imposing nature is often enough to keep most conflicts short.
The founder of Omen is the crafty Orcish politician Thadius Dublet (Doo-BLAY), who also acts as the Settlement’s Mayor. Thadius is sharp witted and has mastered the art of favor-currying, and holds his grip on power not through force, but by political acumen and nigh-legendary wheeling and dealing. He knows that a lawless land like Valgamma’s Ruin is up for grabs and employs a very hands-off style of leadership. He lets residents of Omen live life how they please, only interfering when the tenuous stability of the town is in danger.
Currently, the Argent Railroad company is trying to connect Omen to the rest of Spurth via a rail line, but efforts to finish the track have gone hideously wrong as Monster and Bandit attacks delay progress. Those wanting to travel to Omen quickly must take a railway up to a certain point where construction is halted, and then venture the rest of the way via stagecoach or other method.
As one might expect from the sole frontier town currently in operation, Omen is a rowdy, boisterous place, and has the spirit of the archetypical Wild West town. Spirited saloon brawls and jangling spurs are the order of the day here, and Omen acts as the focal point and main setting location for GUTSHOT! It is from this scrappy town that the five great cultures of Spurth must learn to work together to tame (and survive) the wildest of frontiers!
The Clarity Foundation
This comically wistful name hides a hideous truth behind it, as this whispered, secret location is the base of the dreaded Mentarium, a cult of psychic Dwarven brain-eaters who conduct their sickening experiments somewhere in Valgamma’s Ruin. The location of their Headquarters is currently unknown and is rumored to be hidden from view via strange psychic arts. From the seat of her power in the Foundation, Professor DeWitt continues her important work, ever obsessed with unlocking the latent powers of the Dwarven mind no matter the cost to others, or the cost of her very soul. Those non-Dwarves that are taken to the Foundation are (as you might expect) never heard from again. The meal was simply delicious, thank you.
The Red Spires
The ominous Tribal lands of the dreaded Red Whisper Tribe is located high in a series of winding, tower-like spires that streak upwards into the skies. Members of the Red Whisper tribe mark their territory by proudly stitching together flags and banners of their Tribe out of the peeled skin of their foes. Only the most foolish fail to give the Red Spires a wide berth, and it is from here that the roving war parties of the gruesome Tribe return to offer foul sacrifice to the chaotic madness spirit they revere. Worryingly, many of the non-Whisper Elven Tribes have been troubled by a growing number of their own members defecting away from their Tribe and venturing to join the Red Whispers after suffering the same enticing dreams and promises originally offered to the Jokachi. These newcomer converts are welcomed at Whisper Rock with open arms. It seems that whatever crazed madness Spirit the Red Whispers are sacrificing to is not only growing in power, but is actively recruiting...
Fort Rock
The headquarters of the newly formed Ruin Riders Adventuring Company is located somewhere in Valgamma's Ruin, with rumors speculating that the company base of operations is actually built inside the safety of one of the domineering mountain ranges that dot Valgamma's Ruin. Only a few souls know the actual location of the Fort, but it is the home of the mysterious Chairman of the Ruin Riders, who oversees events in Valgamma's Ruin and deploys his steely agents to combat the growing forces of darkness that plague the region.
