Anchorome – The Tanarvraki Dragonborn

Jon Hild’s Anchorome Campaign Guide has been a real inspiration for me (obviously), and it has lots of great ideas but also a few so-so ones, imo.

Among the great ones are a group of feathered Dragonborn called the Tanarvraki, who are now allied with the colonisers at Fort Flame. They are native not to the True World, but to Abeir– the twin world to the Forgotten Realms’ Toril and the place to which the Spellplague banished Anchorome, Maztica, and Lopango for a hundred years.

The Inhabitants of Anchorome called this time the Blue Breath of Change and it heralded a change in the colour of the sky, as well as the coming of dragons – who dominated Abeir. Fort Flame wouldn’t have survived these dragon overlords without the aid of the Tanarvraki, who then remained in Anchorome when the Spellplague ended and it returned to Toril.

Great idea, but it does rely on a lot of deep Realmslore (which I think, with respect for a great loremaster, is what leads Hild down to his poorer ideas).

But that basic idea of feathered Dragonborn (based on The Mirage Dragon) is pretty cool.

I’ve drawn a few different examples.

Dragonborn – Druid – Circle of Dreams

This one is inspired by the Mirage Dragon’s Fey connections, and while they work for Fort Flame, they are deeply enmeshed with the Alaghi and the Fey of Adusgi forest. They may be non-binary or otherwise genderqueer.

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Dragonborn – Ranger – Horizon Walker Conclave

This guy has taken his ancestors’ origins in Abeir as a warning and hopes to guard his new home against any incursions from his old, or anywhere else.

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Dragonborn – Fighter – Eldritch Knight

I imagine this guy as the “Crimson Duke” of Fort Flame, high up in the government of Fort Flame and commander of its military forces.

He is mostly inspired by Jon Hild’s Fires of Fort Flame supplement, and the Crimson Duke Kridarzros. I have drawings of the other two Dukes coming, but have replaced Hild’s ruling First Flame Streoldus Grayhorn with my own “Lord Innsmouth” for my planned campaign.

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I’ve already mentioned the fact that I see Fort Flame as an essentially evil place. That is not to say all the inhabitants are evil (although some certainly are!). Just like in our own history, there are good people – and people who can have positive relationships with Indigenous people – inside of corrupt systems. It is the system of Fort Flame, the place that is corrupt and colonial. Within it are forces of evil, of neutral, and of good.

The battle for the soul of Fort Flame will be part of the hallmarks of my campaign – which I intend to explore themes of colonization, paternalism, reconciliation, and racist systems or ideas like terra nullius.

The Tanarvraki will fit into this as well. They are not native to Anchorome and are colonizers themselves – but within this system, each individual will have complex motivations. This means that Tanarvraki and other Flaemish can be good-aligned PCs.

Jon Hild, nothing against him, did not design his Anchorome materials with this in mind. My understanding is that he sees the Tanarvraki as respecting Fort Flame’s rugged individualism and the Fort itself having grown past its early colonial aims.

On from the themes into the art. This was a lot of fun, especially for the druid and ranger because Abeir is not based on any historical cultures and so forces me to stretch my armour and costume designs. Abeir was introduced as part of 4E, and so I attempted to bring some of that art style into things. I was also playing a lot of Zelda, so there’s some of that in the Druid.

The Crimson Duke, on the other hand, is more deeply enmeshed in the society of Fort Flame, and so dresses more like the Flaemish – and carries a gigantic zweihander!

The Tanarvraki are meant to be based on the feathered Mirage Dragon. This drawing is, as far as I can find on the internet, the only extant depiction. Thus I followed it fairly closely for the druid, but tried to stretch a little for the other two.

I felt the antlers added a bit more of a North American flavour.

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Marvelous Anchorome

Adaptations of (mostly Indigenous) Marvel Comics characters into Maztican (or other True World) D&D characters.

Distinguished Anchorome

Adaptations of (mostly Indigenous) DC Comics characters into Maztican (or other True World) D&D characters).

All True World (Anchorome, Maztica, Lopango)

All True World art, including adaptations and original art and character design.

Pop Culture Party – Seekers of the Black Fortress

The Seekers of the Black Fortress (Krull)

l-r: Colwyn (Half-elf/Fighter/Eldritch Knight); Kegan (Half-orc/Rogue /Thief); Torquil (Half-orc/Rogue/Scout); Rell (Goliath/Ranger/Hunter Conclave); Ergo the Magnificent (Human/Druid/Circle of the Moon).

IN THE REALMS

“A girl of ancient name that shall become queen, that she shall choose a king, and that together they shall rule their land, and that their son shall rule the world.”

The Western Heartlands of Faerun is in crisis. The return of a Netherese citadel, known now as the Black Fortress, from the Shadowfell has shattered the balance of power. Shadovar “slayers” have issued forth and spread terror and war across Faerun – all at the behest of the ancient Shadow Dragon that even Elminster fears. Men know it simply as “the beast.”

But hope springs eternal. Colwyn Obarskyr, the half-elf prince of Cormyr, has ridden through fire and shadow to reach the elven stronghold of Evereska. There, an elven princess with the ancient name of Lyssa, waits to welcome him as her new husband. The marriage alliance is meant to weld the strength of elves and men together and lead a new resurgence against the Beast – fulfilling the prophecy and freeing the Realms.

Before the marriage could take place, however, Shadovar stormed the castle, slaying all they found. But Colwyn has escaped…and sworn to rescue his bride from the Black Fortress. To do so he’ll need allies.

The boastful druid known as Ergo the Magnificent (“short in stature, tall in power, narrow of purpose, and wide of vision”) was the first to join his quest. Kegan and Torquil, two half-orc bandits, will also lend their axes (in return for a pardon). And Rell, a Goliath ranger, has also chosen to haunt their steps in his quest for revenge against the Beast.

On the advice of Elminster, Colwyn retrieves the ancient weapon known as the Glaive as the first part of their adventure. Then to the swamps to seek advice from the Emerald Seer, and to Kegan’s home village – with dire battles awaiting at each. Finally, the band of adventurers struggle to reach the “Widow of the Web” to gain the last piece of their puzzle – how to find their foe!

To finally reach the Black Fortress, they’ll need to capture steeds from a herd of Nightmares – and brave the Shadowfell itself!

If they fail, the whole Realms may fall…and Lyssa will be slain. But if they succeed, the Beast will be banished, the people will be freed, and their child will be King!

SOURCE MATERIAL & CAMPAIGN IDEAS

Krull is surprisingly relevant in the zeitgeist of the early 80s for such a terrible movie – but it also has undeniable charm. The appearance of early roles for Liam Neeson and Robbie Coltrane makes it an interesting bit of pop culture trivia – but I think it is mainly the coolness of the Glaive that makes such a lasting impact.

And the Glaive is pretty amazingly cool

Early scripts of what was once called The Dragons of Krull, inspired me to change out the weird-ass reptilian Beast for a Shadow Dragon. And the mobile nature of the Black Fortress from the movie made me think of the Netherese citadels – in particular the Shadow Enclave that played a role in the Second Sundering.

Things began to fall into place after that. There is nothing in the Forgotten Realms that would fit the idea of a marriage that would result in ruling the “world” as in Krull. But Cormyr is one of the most powerful nations in Faerun, and Evereska is said to be the same for Elven cities outside Evermeet. And both have had conflicts with the City of Shadow during and around the Return of the Archwizards series.

Get to Class

The glaive returning to Colwyn’s hands could be chalked up to the power of the weapon itself, but that plus his fire powers from the end made me think Eldritch knight.

Bunch of pretty cool character designs from Krull

Kegan and Torquil have this awesome dual-axe thing going on. These might be the first half-orcs I’ve drawn. But bandits are easily made rogues and the party could use some backstabbing grit. Making one a thief and the other a scout brings a little variety.

The cyclops in Krull were tricked into giving up an eye for the ability to see the future – but only of their own death. I liked the idea of a Goliath PC who had sacrificed his eye in a manner reminiscent of Odin and the Well of Mimir. Maybe this would translate to the Lucky feat? Ranger otherwise fits his woods wisdom.

Ergo isn’t described as a druid in the source material, but I’ve rarely seen anyone who fits the class better. Through the course of the film he transforms into a duck and a tiger!

There are a lot of other characters muddying up this film: Torquil’s bandits; the Old Man; the little kid. These all make more sense as NPCs as they rarely have a major role to play.

Campaign Notes

This campaign would be an interesting take on D&D’s “multiverse” concept. That is, according to the book series mentioned above, the conflict with the City of Shadow happened a certain way – and certainly there was no mention of any King of Faerun! If you don’t want to create really intricate continuity, then you can ignore the events of those books and instead create your own campaign for countering the Shadovar. Keep the set-up, ditch the canon resolution.

Having one PC as the “chosen one” is always a bit weird – and one of the main differences between fantasy movies and fantasy RPGs. The DM would have to be sure that all the other players got their moments to shine in a team effort. Having recently played a game with mixed ages – I might recommend this as a nice way to let a younger player feel like the star.

Seekers of the Black Fortress

The Pop Culture Party Series follows a similar line to my Motley Crew series. Only while that nerdly rotogravure imagined sci-fi motley crews in Firefly’s ‘Verse, this will imagine various casts of adventure media as D&D character