By Jeff Grubb, Aaron Allston, and Thomas M

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By Jeff Grubb, Aaron Allston, and Thomas M. Reid

Karameiko.1 ... a cla.1.1icf antady .Jetting where bouJ a'Jventurer.1 can become legendary beroe.J. Whether you have played only the FIRST Q UESTT"' audio CD game or have enjoyed the AD&D ® game for years, you'll find high adventure in the kingdom of Karameikos. Discover a magical land sure to challenge the bravest hearts and sharpest swords. Hear this realm come to life in two extraordinary quests featuring dramatic sounds on compact disc! ln.Jide you'll di.1cover ... an interactive audio compact disc featuring thrilling sound effects, character voices, music for two adventures in Karameikos a 32-page Adventure Book compatible with the rules of the FIRST Q UEST audio CD game and the AD&D game Player'.J Handbook and Du GEO N MASTER® Guide a 128-page Explorer's Guide, lavishly illustrated in full-color 2 full-color poster-sized maps 12 parchment maps, iUustrations, and player props 8 full-color hero cards

See the wonders of Karameikos, from deadly Fort Doom to King Stefan's castle . Study at the School of Magecraft. Clash swords with th~ noble Knights of the Griffon. Match wits with nefarious thieves of the Iron Ring. Uncover dark mysteries of the past, including the jackal-headed Hutaakans ... and much more! TSR, Inc. TSR Ltd. POB 756 120 Church End Lake Geneva Cherry Hinton I SBN SampleWI 53147 Cambr idge CB1 3LB file U.S.A. United Kingdo m

ADVANCEDDunGEONS & DRAGONS, AD&D , DUNGEONMASTER are registered trademarks owned by TSR, Inc . MYSTARA,KAAAMEIKO S, FIRST OUEST, the TSR logo , and the CD logo are trademarks owned by TSR , Inc. 9 781560 768531 C 1994 TSR, Inc . All Rights Reserved . Printed in the USA. ara1 s 0 7l

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Credits

Designer: Jeff Grubb and Aaron Allston ❖ Editor: Thomas M. Reid ❖ Project Manager: Andria Hayday Box Cover Artist: Paul Jaquays ❖ Interior Artists: Daniel Frazier, Eric Hot z, John and Laura Lakey, Walt er Valez Graphics Coordinator: Sarah Feggestad ❖ Art Coordinator: Peggy Cooper Electronic Prepress Coordinator: Tim Coumbe ❖ Typograph y: Angelika Lokotz Cartography: John Knecht and Robin Raab Page Design: Dee Barnett ❖ Border Graphics: Randy Asplund - Faith ❖ Illuminated Letter s: Robin Wood Proofreading: Roger Moore , Jon Pickens , Sue Weinlein, Janis Wells, and David Wise

TSR, Inc. TSRLtd. P.O. Box 756 120 Church End Lake Gene va Cherry Hinton WI53147 Cambridge , CBl 3LB U.S.A. United Kingdom

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ADVANCEDD UNGEONS& DRAGONS,AD & D, and DUNCEON MA s·1ER are regis tere d trade m arks ow ned by TSR. Inc. M vs ·1ARA, FIRS I O l ll,S I. K,\RAMEJKO,, and the TSR logo are trademarks ow ned by TS R, Inc. All TSR characters , character names, and the distinct ive likenesse s th ereof are tradema rks owned by TSR , Inc.

Chapter I: Ov erview ...... 4 Verge ...... 49 Appendices ...... 112 The Lay of the Land ...... 5 Vorloi ...... 49 Crea ting Karameikan Characters ...... 112 The Hand of Man ...... 10 Vandevics ny ...... 49 Background s: Human ...... 112 Using the Maps ...... 12 Elves ...... 115 Chapter V: Personalities ...... SO Dwarves and Gnomes ...... 116 Chapt er II: History ...... 16 The Royal Family of Karameikos ...... 51 Halflings ...... 117 Karameikos at the Dawn of Time ...... 16 The Co urt Major: Kits and Proficiencies ...... 117 The Dark Age ...... 17 The Minister s ...... 62 The Karameikan Calendar ...... 124 The Th yat ian Invasion ...... 18 The Clergy ...... 66 Encounter Tables ...... 126 Stefan Karameikos ...... 18 Mirro s ...... 72 Recent History ...... 20 Beyond the Walls of Mirros ...... 79 Sidebars Ambassadors' Row ...... 92 What a Campaign Setting Does ...... 7 Chapter III: Society ...... 22 The Song of Halav ...... 17 Classes of Society and Noble Titles .... 27 Chapter VI: Devices, Clan Markin gs, Matters of Faith ...... 33 Beyond the Borders ...... 100 and Coats of Arm s ...... 29 A Society of Rogues ...... 35 Aengmor ...... 100 The Shearing Ceremony ...... 30 Atruaghin ...... 101 Forma l Clerical Dress ...... 33 Chapter IV: The BrokenLands ...... 102 The King's Law...... 41 Cities and Towns ...... 38 Daro kin ...... 102 What the Numbers Mean ...... 51 Mirros ...... 38 Ethengar ...... 103 Time Line of Karame ikos ...... 56 Threshold ...... 44 The Five Shires ...... 103 The Black Eagle Barony ...... 61 Dmitrov ...... 46 Glantri ...... 104 The Order of the Griffon ...... 68 Fort Doom ...... 47 The Heldannic Territories ...... 104 Calling Out the Guard ...... 72 Highforge ...... 47 Ierendi ...... 105 The Legend of Koriszegy Keep ...... 85 Kelvin...... 47 Minrothad ...... 105 Fealty ...... 98 Krakatos ...... 47 Ostland, Vestland, It's Money that Matter s ...... 103 Luln ...... 48 and the Soderfjords ...... 108 Th e Hut aakans ...... 109 Marilenev ...... 48 Rockhome ...... 108 Trials and Errors ...... 110 Penhaligon ...... 48 Sind ...... 109 Where Adventur ers Fit ln ...... 113 Rifllian ...... 48 Thya tis ...... 109 The Nature of the Immorta ls ...... 115 Rugalov ...... 48 Wendar ...... 110 Dragons...... 123 Sulescu ...... 49 Ylaruam...... 110 The Karameikan Calendar ...... 124

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This watercolor shows a vi ew of the town of Thr e shold city itself at dusk . The skylin e is dominat ed by th e bell from the north ern tip of Fogor Isle, looking south into the tower of the town hall .

3 Chapter I: Overview Karameikos, a very young kingdom in a very old land , lies on the southern coast of the con tinent of Brun on the planet Mystara, in a region its inhabitants call the Known World . As kingdoms go, it is a small one. A rider on a fast hor se can trav el from Karameikos 's capital, Minos , to its western most settlem ent at Fort Doom in a day, to its easternmost village of Rugalov in a day and a half, and to King's Road Keep in the Altan Tepes Mountains to the north in two days. Yet within its bound aries any group of en thu siast ic heroes un can find enough adventure, danger , treachery , and excitement to satisfy o the them. In many ways Karameikos still exists north, as a frontier nation cut out of an ancient w ilderness. Uninhabited forest covers a sea to grea t majority of the kingdom - unin habit ed, that is, by humans . A popula the south, and every tion of elves, humanoid s, and monstrous creatures thri ve within its borders. Fur thing else built on a ther , these wi ldland s cover the ruins of ancient kingdoms and buried cities, th e woody slope between lairs of fell bea sts. Human s hav e always lived in the land the two. now calle d Karameikos . The earliest known people, the Traldar, were a tradi tional , rural folk. (Evidence exists indi ca tin g th e pr esence of an even more -Joshuan (jallidox, ancient civilization, now lost, of a peo ple who called themselves the Nithians. halfling adventurer, However , few present-day folk a re awa re of th e Nithians , so the hi stor y on the texts do not include them.) The decen dants of the Traldar , the Traladarans , nature of were conquered over 100 years ago by their neighbor , the empire of Thyati s. l

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Most of Karam eikos is wild erness , in particular the western is prowl ed by powerful monsters , including many ogr es and portions where th e desolate Cruth lowlands sprawl at the giants. This region also serves as a hom e to wizards and feet of th e Black Peak Mountains. This empty, beautiful land oth er individuals who value their privacy.

5 Sample file

This classic example of Traladaran illumination served as a locked in a battle to the death with the King of the Beast frontispiece for the first Thyatian written translation of the Men , while beleaguered warriors look on. The same scene Legend of Halav. It shows the Traladaran warrior-king Halav rendered in the New Karameikan style appears on page 9.

6 Cruth lowlands of western Karameikos) are about 1,500 feet above sea What a Campaign level; th e flatlands south of the Black Peak Mountains rise to about 1,000 Setting Does feet above sea level. A campaign setting functions as just Vegetation that -a location in which a DM can place an AD&D c•>game against a Karameikos is one of th e mo st thick ly wooded nations of the world. In the larger context. Most AD&D games north ern part s of the kingdom , pine forests cover the mountain slopes and start at the entrance to a dungeon the hillsides. As traveler s mo ve farther south, they encounter more hard (be it an abandoned dwarven mine , woo ds- especially oak. In the southernmo st part s of the Dymrak Forest in a vampire's crypt, or a lost city); ., eastern Karameikos , ancient oaks tower into th e sky as far as the eye can from there , the player characters see. (PCs) challenge the beasts , tricks , Three great tracts of dense forest lie in Karameiko s. The Riv erfork and traps found within . Woods sprawls in the far west, near the border with the nation of halflings A campaign setting serves as the (known to themselve s as the hin ) called th e Five Shires. This thick forest wider background against which was called the Achelos Woods in the original Traladaran language and those adventures are set. It includes remains largely une xplor ed, uninhabited by humans (exce pt for the sol the places where the player charac dier s garrisoned at Riverfork Keep), and somewh at dark-h ea rted. Com ters rest and recuperate when they monly blank eted in thick fog that drifts in from the Blight Swamp to the return from adventuring. It explains south , th e woods have been chartered to a numb er of small clans of the rest of the world that the char Alfheim elf refugees who have fled into Karameikos . Th e woods are acters live in, telling the stories of all known officially as the Estate of Achelo s. the people and places the PCs The Radlebb Wood sits in central Karameikos, a forest inhabited by the encounter. maj ori ty o f the Ca llarii elves , as well as a large number of Alfheim Although they might like to refugees. Less dark and ominous than the western tract, it still has its dan think so, the characters themselves gerous wild animals , rogue monsters , and tribes of evil humanoids. Th e are not the center of this universe. elven estat es of Radlebb and Rifllian share th ese woods. Everyoneelse around them has a tale In southea stern Karameikos lies th e greatest of the kingdom's woods , to tell and a life to live, too, from the Dymrak Forest . It stret ches all the way from the borders of the Barony the constantly yawning fellow who of Kelvin to the bord er of Thyatis . A mighty hardwood forest, its floor takes care of the PCs' horses at the never sees th e full light of day. Numerous nonhuman tribe s call the Dym local stables to the kitchen maid at rak home , mo stly violent humanoid s but also Vyalia elves in the east and the baron's castle, secretly spying on Callarii elves in the west . the baron and his PC guests for a Mo st of the remaining land of Karameikos is lightly wooded -s cattered foreign government. small forests with patch es of clear terrain suitable for pasturage and tillage. Remember the town in the Hum ans settle in these areas most comfortably. FIRSTOUEST"' game? There are lots One swam p, mentioned earlier, lies in Karameikos-the Blight Swamp , of buildings on the map of the near th e western border shar ed with the Five Shires. It is not a healthy town , including the wizard 's tower , temperat e swa mp ; rath er, an ugly landscape of dying tree s and rotting veg the temple, and the store. Each of etat ion dominate s th e sluggish , swollen delta where the western rivers •these places serves a purpose in the meet th e sea. Disease-bearing mosquitoes infest its still waters , and game, but no details about the pro strange crea tur es glide und er the surface . Mangrove islands are common, prietors are given. None of the drippin g with gray moss, adding to th e haunted, desolate look. Even the tidbits of information about the ligh t of day feels subdued and cheerless in this part of the nation. Appro kind of people they are, their priately enough , the south eas tern portion of the swamp lies within th e secrets , or anything else that might Barony of Hala g (formerly the Black Eagle Barony and home of the Black serve to create an adventure is Eagle Baron) . explained. A campaign setting fills One large area of moor s occupies the land northeast of th e Barony of all of that information in. Kelvin. The se moors boas t flatland s and slightly rolling hills where under For example, a campaign setting brush is spars e and scrubby. Small rivers trickle through, and large patche s might tell us that the town is actu of deceptive-looking bog can suck men and horses to their deaths in a mat ally called Krondsfield , named after ter of moments. This , too , is an eerie area, where strange howls drift old Jacob Krond, who over 100 throu gh the night and nothing looks friendly or comforting during the day. years ago was the first farmer to The MoorsSample of Kelvin and the Blight Swamp are not the only marshy and settle infile the area and clear the trees swa mp y lands within th e Kingdom of Adventure. There are many low for his crop field. We might be told land s, bogs, mar she s, and small swa mps throughout Karameikos, particu that the Evening Star Inn is run by a larly in more hea vily wooded terra in. (conti1111erl011 page 8) 7 (continued frompage 7) Water retired adventurer named Gulter The map shows numero us rivers crossing through the nation. In wes tern Olafson, who keeps a minotaur's Karameikos, the rivers Cruth , Magos, Gustos, and Achelos tumbl e dow n head mounted on the wall over his out of the Cruth Mountains-w hite-wa ter rivers filled w ith falls, hydraulic bar. He proudly tells anyone who sink s, and rapid s. Ab out 15 miles north of th e border of th e Barony of asks that he slew it with his magical Halag the three smaller tributaries pour into the greater Achelos. The over sword , which he still wears on his filled Achelos then broadens and slows as it passes out of the woo dy ter belt to discourage fighting in his rain, draining slow ly th rough th e Blight Swamp and out int o the Gulf of establishment. None of this infor Halag. Th e strength of these rivers fills the Blight Swamp w ith fresh wa ter mation has anything to do with the for most of its length. current adventure , but when the In central and eastern Karameikos, the Windru sh River flow s dow n from characters are done and return to th e Black Peak Mount ains, and th e rivers Hillfoll ow and High reach run the town to enjoy the fruits of their down from the Altan Tepes. They join near Kelvin and continu e on to the labors, it establishes a sense of real sea as the river Highreach. The Highreach is a w ide, powe rful flow; com ness to the world . munities along its bank (includ ing Mir ros) are subject to floods w ith the A campaign setting acts as more melting of w inter snows. than just a backdrop to adventures , Th e names Windru sh, Hillfollow, and Highreach we re coined by Thy though. Because it is a dynamic a tian settl ers. The rivers all have older nam es- respectiv ely Wu fwo lde, place, it also becomes a stage for Shuttu rga, and Volaga-wh ich are still used by th e more traditional Tral new adventures , a springboard for adarans (particularly when giving directions to travelers from Thyatis). the imagination. The last major river system is the Rugalov River near the eastern border Perhaps there is a rumor that old wi th Thya tis. This stro ng, yo ung river wo uld slow, though not stop, any Jacob Krond liked to bury pots of imp erial invaders. The mouth of th e river stretch es 8 miles across and is gold coins in his fields, although subject to massive tidal surges. Most of the river, w hile mapped, remains nobody knows where his farm was unexplored, in part due to rapids and cataracts farther upstream. anymore . Maybe somebody breaks Karame ikos has ma ny smaller rivers not show n on the map. Wh erever into the Evening Star Inn one night, you as the DM need a river or creek for plot or story purpo ses, feel free add kills Gulter, and steals the magical it. You can be sure th at any communit y not shown lies near a body of sword that he always brags about. wa ter- typically a small stream or spring if the map does not show it. Most Two new adventures are starting to of th ese smaller streams flow towa rd th e nearest large river, or perhaps take shape . directly south into the Sea of Dread. Over the long term, the actions Th e Sea of Drea d, an azure ocean, forms the south ern bounda ry of Kara of the characters have a broad effect meikos. It is rich in fish and shellfish, the latt er found parti cularly in Mar on the surrounding land, as the ilenev Bay, which is famous for its oysters. The sea is relatively calm to the heroes are soon legendary among south wes t, th ough genera lly roiling and stormy to the south east, as most the people and hated and feared by major sea storms arrive here. the dark forces they strive against. Most natives of Karameikos view the sea at wors t as a barrier and at best For example , once the characters as a highw ay to foreign markets in the Minrothad Isles and lerendi. There completely clean out those ruins in is, howeve r, a rich w ilderness beneath the surface of this sea, open to those the woods outside of town, slaying w ho have the w herewithal and ability to explore it. all of the monsters and claiming the treasure, the townsfolk are going to Resources take notice . Perhaps the mayor decides to honor them for making Karameikos is a new nation, and most of its trad e revolves around its nat the locale a safe and peaceful place ural reso urces, both for export and for crafting int o finished goo ds. The to live again. From now on, the PCs grea test resou rce of Karam eikos rem ains its forests, w hich carry many are welcome in town , and might names but stretch almos t unbroke n from eastern to wes tern bord ers. A hin even be called upon to stop a band story tells of an adventurous halfling who bet that he could travel from the of brigands from waylaying travel Shires to Thyatis without once touching Karameikan soil-an d wo n. ers on the road nearby. King Stefan war ily regar ds the disposition of th ese fores ts, seeing the Eventually, an infamous villain ruin th at unpl ann ed plund ering caused in his native Th ya tis. Permit s to who has been living in Krondfield lum ber in qu ant ity must be gran ted by th e crown or by local baro ns in incognitoSample is upset at the characters. baronial land s. Lords or ladies of merely landfile ed rank may not grant such He has been trying to buy up all of permits for their ow n estates. King Stefan also posts royal advisers (usually the land in the town, and he hired elves) to inspect large-scale logging operation s. Clear-cuttin g (removing all trees regardless of suitability) is avoided except in cases w here the land will (co11ti11ued on page 10) be converted imm ediately to farming. 8 Sample file

The Traladaran hero Halav, his magical bronze armor style of art, stressing a realistic approach to portrayal and glowing, engages in a final battle with the leader of the scene, as well as a focus on active subject matter. Compare Beast-Men. This piece is rendered in the New Karameikan this art with the piece depicting the same subject on page 6.