Bigby’s Forest was known as the Dry Woods when the Olympians first came to Cimmeria. The forest’s name changed to match that of one of its most famous inhabitants, Bigby the Dragon War Hero. Bigby cast a spell that caused the stumps of cut down trees to regenerate within a few weeks. Consequently, Bigby’s Forest is excellent for logging as the trees replace themselves within two months. Additionally, the forest’s borders have been constantly expanding as the trees never die, but new ones are created each year. Some worry that this growth will eventually consume nearby towns, but that would not happen for many years.

The Dry Woods were originally settled by Rarventataa the Wary and the elves loyal to her that left the Conclave. She became one of the four monarchs of the elven people. Queen Rarventataa ordered that no other race be allowed into the Dry Woods without special dispensation from her. Commerce continued via the trading village of Semanarie on the forest’s edge. The elves exported the bounty of the forest and their fine manufactured goods in exchange for metal, stone, and jewels. Life was good and plentiful for the Elves of the Dry Woods.

Queen Rarventataa’s reign was ended by the green dragon sisters, Cordax and Hashterainon. After the death of Sadroston and the Draconic Convocation, the green dragons descended on the Dry Woods. Rarventataa and all her loyal defenders were slain. Two elven factions formed. One, a group of druidic naturalists allied themselves with the dragons, viewing them as the pinnacle of the natural order. The other, a group of elvish patriots who sought to subvert and overthrow the dragons. The Patriots named the western river of the Dry Woods in honor of the martyr, Rarventataa. The Patriots and the Naturalists of the Dry Woods bickered and skirmished with each other until open hostilities broke out during the Dragon War.

The Hero of the Dragon War, Bigby, grew up during the dragon’s occupation. He cast his famous spell to grow the trees while the Naturalists and Patriots quarreled. When the war started Bigby rose to become the leader of the Patriots while Eathirilu and Davonisi led the Naturalists. The battles of Bigby’s Forest climaxed when Eathirilu captured Bigby and the Copper Orb of Dragonkind. The other Heroes of the Dragon War managed to free Eathirilu and shatter the Naturalist forces. The Dragon War ended with victory for the Patriots. There were many former Naturalists left after the Dragon War. Rather than reintegrate into Bigby’s Forest, the Naturalists left forming communities in Semanarie and Tetalya. Bigby himself retired to live a peaceful life with his family before entering stasis to protect the Green Orb of Dragonkind.

Bigby’s Forest remained peaceful until the rule of Queen Anajakaze. Her egalitarian rule led to the Masculine Revolt in Xoria. The failed revolutionaries fled into Bigby’s Forest and formed the core of the Rebellion that would eventually oppose the dragovinians. Anajakaze and Jevaninada II both attempted to find the Rebels or destroy the forest and failed on both counts. The Elves of Bigby’s Forest protected their guests and eventually helped place Princess Tarigananata on the throne of Xoria.

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I’m Isaac

Welcome to the GoCorral website! I’m Isaac Shaker and this is a place for me to write about D&D and occasionally other topics. I host a podcast called Setting the Stage that interviews different DMs about their campaigns. I’m currently focused on completing the Cimmeria campaign setting and turning it into a book.

Setting the Stage Podcast

86 – Wuxia Adventures in RPGS (Daniel and Metanoia/Ithasen) Setting the Stage, Campaigns for D&D and Other RPGs

I interviewed Daniel, my cohost of the Tabletop Community Spotlight! Daniel created his own setting called Ithasen with an in-progress wuxia TTRPG system called Metanoia to go along with it. Ithasen has a spiritual force known as Ren that pervades the world. Ren is a magical manifestation of the user's, or Rennim's, will upon the universe. Rennim that cultivate their will grow stronger and capable of more amazing feats as the concentrate their power and force of personality.Within Ithasen there are seven lineages of people that decide what type of Ren they can use. Anamor use conversion Ren. Elkyr use flux Ren. Janim use elasticity Ren. Nyl use influence Ren. Okoi use recurrence Ren. Haqol use harmony Ren. Finally, Daruner use use coalescent ren. The two races lineages that drive unique politics in Ithasen are the Daruner and the Haqol.Daruner children absorb the Ren talents of both their parents, becoming a perfect blend of Daruner and another lineage parent. Through this mixing, a Daruner family could potentially include all other lineages within itself. This power has placed Daruner as the nobility of Ithasen.Haqol's power of harmony allows them to amplify the Ren powers of others. This puts Haqol in a vulnerable position as unscrupulous people will do anything to incorporate Haqol lineage into their bloodline. Haqol have experienced something akin to a genocide as their lineage has been consistently absorbed by other lineages and diluted over the centuries.There's a whole lot more than that so strap in!Daniel has a fully setup GitHub Wiki for information on Metanoia and Ithasen that you can explore.There's a Metanoid Discord server you can join to discuss the rules and setting with other fans.The occasional musing on TTRPGs can be found on Daniel's blog, Tabletop Discourse.GoCorral YouTube Channel for watching the Tabletop Community Spotlight.Vote in the CRIT Awards! Voting is open until August 23rd.Check out the Setting the Stage website!Want to be on the show? Fill out this survey.Join our Discord!Support Setting the Stage on Patreon! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
  1. 86 – Wuxia Adventures in RPGS (Daniel and Metanoia/Ithasen)
  2. 85 – Medical Doctor D&D (Justin and Oops! All Healers!)
  3. 84 – Horseback Riding D&D Camp (Michael and SaddleSnaps)
  4. 83 – Call of Cthulhu's Garden (Hem and The Sprouting)
  5. 82 – Tarot Ghosts (George and Fears & Fortunes)