Sunday, May 15, 2011

RPG ruins: Legendary city of Bordobaar

The Ruins of Bordobaar lie slightly over 200 miles southwest of the swamp [Swamp of Gorklimsk]. Although Bordobaar was once a mighty city, its population was stricken by a sinister plague which caused (according to the local legends) grotesque physical deformity and murderous, uncontrollable outbursts of rage. Fleeing citizens were often attacked and killed by the inhabitants of the surrounding villages and towns out of fear that the disease would spread, but no cases were ever reported outside the city. Those who contracted the disease eventually went completely mad (or, as the more popular versions have it, reverted to a pure state of animal savagery) and killed each other off.

The ruins of Bordobaar.
Several times people have attempted to move back into the city, but they have always left, telling tales of ruthless nocturnal attacks by mansized savage beasts. Local legend has it that the royal treasury was never removed from the city; it still lies deep in the lower dungeons of the palace. Certainly many expeditioners have attempted to find the treasure, but few have returned. Those who have returned told similar stories of bloodshed and terror. If true, these stories indicate that the disease was passed on from generation to generation and has produced a race of powerful, murderous savages.

Editor’s note: Text originally published in Conklin's Atlas of the Worlds and Handy Manual of Useful Information. Engraving first appeared in Transactions of the Royal Martian Geographical Society, Volume II. Both are part of the vast Space: 1889 role playing game of Victorian era space-faring in which various European powers have colonized the Red Planet.
 

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