Age of Iron is a low-fantasy setting “Live Action Roleplaying” (LARP) game with a strong focus on a dark feudal world. The game’s setting is meant to cultivate the deep sense of mystery and alienness of not knowing what lurks between the spaces inhabited by men and on the bonds of service as strong as iron. A strong system of of feudalism exists where mine lords known as “Crul” protect iron mines and smithies for their lords, providing them with weapons to wage their wars against neighbors or secure their rule against usurpers. Those monsters that do exist are unique, rare and frightening: unknowable to the huddled masses behind castle walls.
When designing the Age of Iron setting a lot of care was taken to avoid a Tolkien-esque approach to fantasy. Tolkien, interested in details and specific facts, designed a fairly ironclad and in depth history. The interesting thing about history is that it is often called into question, and in a setting where literacy and established academics are far and few between things get even more interesting. Our fantasy world may have many various “facts” that are called into question often, and leave the players a lot of room to work in new stories based on the plot as it develops. We never wanted the game to be set in stone. The cosmology and “origin” story even is fairly open, and the gods follow a Joseph Campbell development of early society making sense of the world and phenomenon around them. It is the darkness of early human civilization as we know it, but with the question added: what if the stories of trolls and monsters were real? Those individuals that can still call on the creative potential of the origin of the world are called “Shapers” and are mad and always pay a price for their “gifts.” We also emphasize the roles played in a feudal or caste system and try to highlight the miseries and realities of someone trapped in a less egalitarian society.
Our first event, and many of the scenes in it, focuses on a realm called Pars Vater, on the outskirts of the Arlothian culture’s lands. Arlothians, hard-working and somber, were the first to master the use of iron and are strict in their interpretation of feudal roles. The realm of Pars Vater is a heavily wooded area bordering many Farlander realms and a few Riverlander settlements. As a relatively isolated Arlothian settlement, Pars Vater focused on a practice of openness to the other cultures and the trade of weaponry. Vater produced tools and weapons have long been considered the staple of “quality” in the region and it has insured a great deal of security as a result. Vater monarchs as a result have settled into a reliance on their Cruls, and much power was divested into the mine lords to keep the peace. While this weakened the monarch line’s power it also had a traditional net benefit of high quality mines and smithies.
As far back as cultural memory can reach, Pars Vater has been a stronghold of Lassitor the Hidden One faith. The religious presence of standing stones is amplified by the realm’s natural reliance on mining for its wealth and security. Though other Arlothian realms turned to imported gods of war or sought supremacy over their neighbors through military might, the Arlothians of Pars Vater mostly concerned themselves with the art and craft of working with metals. Another faith is a curious relic and has most to do with a menacing figure known as “Culis the Bog Walker,” a Tree god that was said to walk on tall stilts through the peat bogs with a large basket collecting cattle and children to devour. Because he sat so high no missile thrown or shot could reach him, and his stilts were said to be made of a wood that could not be burned and was stronger than metal. In order to appease Culis the Arlothians of Vater, especially in regions close to Farlander settlements, leave baskets of food and carved idols meant to look like children and confuse Culis.
The capital city of Pars Vater is a melancholy inspiring fortress carved into a mountainside called Sindes Boralan, or “Stone House.” Without surprise, Sindes Boralan is avoided as much as possible by the Arlothians that inhabit it and tend to “summer” in homes that dot the cliffside or neighboring forest. Most of the major population centers in Pars Vater follow this model with a few exceptions. Generally the Arlothians of the realm maintain an open doors policy in regards to their defenses since it allows for a healthier trading atmosphere. Excepting the Rim Empire’s reign many generations before, the realm has had little to fear of war.
During the Rim Empire Pars Vater was a belligerent and allied itself with a Gries monarch known as Uican the Liar. The Gries built a swamp fortress in Pars Vater that was later demolished by Rim Empire forces and exists now as a reputedly haunted ruin with tunnels spanning miles under the earth. A major battle occurred near Sindes Boralan known as “The Battle of Dim Mound” and the barrows that were left are many, with hasty earth mounds erected to cover the dead. This, too, is considered a foul place to go which is unfortunate given its proximity to the capital.
Age of Iron 