Sunday, October 27, 2013

A Visit to Mousehole

(No, that's not a euphemism)

As mentioned in an earlier post, Wizards' Realm describes a sample town – complete with map and a building-by-building listing.  The name of the town is Mousehole (pronounced muz'l) and I provide the map here for your delight and edification.


The script along the right side is 'Realm elvish' for Mousehole.  For those of you who choose to enlarge the image, the elvish script beneath the bar scale reads “So it is written = Darkmoon.”  Darkmoon is the wizard character of Niels Erickson, the sole editor, who is also credited as an author and illustrator.  I can only suppose that the map is Erickson's doing.

With regard to building listings, the town is divided into five sections:  a central section and one section for each of the cardinal directions.

The central section consists of two buildings, the Municipal Offices and the Guild-Hall.  Included in the Municipal Offices are “the Lord Mayor's Office, The Municipal Courts, the Constabulary (all eight of 'em). the Town Gaol, the Reeve & Tax Collector, Customs and the Department of Sundry Works.”

To the west of the Mystic River are such locations as:  the cemetery, the mills, the brickyard, the lumber yard, the shipyard, and Barnacle Bill's Boathouse (“Bildor 'Bill' Splayfoot, a hobbit, proprietor”).

East of the river, there are a variety of establishments.  Among them are:  two liveries, Chuffy Fussock's Ropes & Nets (Chuffy is a hobbit), Parkyn Hammersmith the Armourer, Prospero the Potter, Fograk Facewrecker's Bakery (Fograk is half-orcish), and market stalls “where farmers...as well as fishermen...bring fresh edibles.”

In the northern section of town we find such noteworthy personages as Umma Childlove (midwife), Meldu (undertaker), Demelza the Wise (fortune teller), Olog the One-Eyed (jeweler), Wort (cobbler), and Hultz (barber).  An open-air theatre, the banking house, and the town watch barracks are also located in the north side of town.

The large building at the southern tip of the town is the local Infinity Store.  (The warehouse for the Infinity Store is across town.)  Also in the south side of town are The Three Fates Inn (“The largest and, reputedly, the best public house in Mousehole”), The Chantry and Monastery of the Revered Order of Istys, and the Lazar-House.

It just so happens that – in the real world – there is a town named Mousehole.  It would seem that the real Mousehole inspired the Wizards' Realm Mousehole.  I present a map of the genuine article below.  (Sadly, I could not locate an image with greater resolution.)  The real Mousehole looks more interesting than the 'fantasy' version.


On the reverse of the (fantasy) Mousehole map, there is a “Campaign Map” (shown below).  The Wizards' Realm setting is known as the Middle Kingdoms – “the realms once under the High Crown.”  The book explains:
Only certain major areas are identified on this map, including major terrain features.  The reason for large open areas here is two-fold:  Not only does it give some idea how little a traveller setting out from one familiar part of the world might know of lands beyond his own, but it also provides the GM and players alike with more latitude in shaping the world in which their characters will move.

2 comments:

  1. I kinda dig the "Barbarian States" on the realms map. I would think barbarians would lack the organization to develop a State, but the concept has merit.

    Timothy

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  2. And, sorry for the offtopic, but there was No Way Alexis Qaeda was going to leave your commentary on his blog, completely exposing his lack of intellectual development, and the irony of calling you "dummy."

    I am surprised he did not incorporate his T-ball insights, or his dogma that more rules makes it impossible for a DM to screw over his players into the larger post.

    Another invisible victory for the forces of Good against Pomposity!

    Timothy

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