Welcome To Zarlaw
Not only the history of Zarlaw Magazine, but also the history of the Evolving World©; Terraland. A great way to catch up with what is happening in the campaign setting you helped create°
History of :
Zarlaw Magazine | Terraland | Recent Events
Zarlaw Magazine started out as a small news letter back in the days of the long reign of the BBS style of online communication. Before the Internet was more than a theory of what could be done, the Bulletin Board System was king. From online messaging to transferring files.The BBS ruled for around eighteen years! It will be a while before the Internet can say that 8 )
In those days a young (was I ever young?) gent by the name of Trent Hayes started down a road that would lead to this site & it's sister publication Zarlaw Magazine. A news letter went out to introduce gamers to each other. At first this was done via BBS messages & by the distribution (locally at first) of a news letter called "Oz Dungeoneer". It surprised all when demand meant that more time had to be devoted to the News Letter & we had to do something terrible...CHARGE for it!
The princely sum of $1 was placed on the small example of desktop publication, just enough to cover the ink ribbons for the dot matrix printer used in it's creation.1999
This year we have our second double sided laser working constantly to bring you the magazine every two months. A protective cover now envelopes the 80 page publication* (dubbed the anti-munchie shield) & we have published fifteen "modules" (scenarios) to date; which have earned their writers (you readers out there!) a total of over $5,000 in royalties!*The magazine's size depends on the content sent in by readers. The first issue was 80 pages, with the average issue being 60 pages to date.
TERRALAND
RECENT EVENTS
Excepts taken from Tyollish proclamations & the Empirical Librarian's Most Accurate History of the Empire...
A.W. 3; third week of Hoar
The Emporer is asked to renounce his throne by the council of merchants from the northern provinces. They believed their monetary influence would hold sway with the young Emporer.Tyoll I had their bodies set above the trade gates of the capital.
A.W. 4; third week ofThe Emporer announces that an expeditionary force has been sabotagued by the accursedly traitorous group of adventurers known as Zarlaw. He places a one-hundred thousand gold piece reward on their head(s), to be held by a third party in case the Emporer is forced to escape or (gods forbid it) is killed by the scoundrels!
A.W. 4; first week ofForty guards died honourably defending the Tyollish monarch, yet in vain as the sorcerous group of necromancers known as Zarlaw performed a coup & incinerated the emporer today. Many of the royal court were raped, murdered or both in the bloody aftermath. None know in what order the attrocities took place however as rumours pour forth that the head of the group is actually has a very dubious claim to the throne from a distant family that disowned her. Unfortunately this may be the last entry in the official history of the Empire until fighting in the streets abates.
A.W. 4;Strange troops attack after several attempts on the rogue rulers of Tyoll. Their appearance is certainly caused by the obvious misrule of Zarlaw over the Tyollish Empire & it's capital.
Calling themselves Raamans, they are to be greeted by the new Merchants Guild who plan an equitable deal &/or take-over by the superior force. Zarlaw take control of the situation & the parlay goes badly as expected by this author...
A.W. 4;
The Raaman forces are strangely dressed, with many carrying blades of a rare bluish metal that makes even the finest steel blades seem as crude bronze or pig iron at best... They strike this author as an imposing force. Even if they are decendants of the mysterious lost civilisation of Raam.
A.W. 4;The battle goes surprisingly well, with elite forces gathered together by the various guilds working with the poorly organised Zarlaw to hold the Raaman forces.
Within days the fight has turned, with their first land forces taking the shoreline & steadily progressing through the Tyollish defenses. The guild led forces have stood valiantly, but not surprisingly there is no sign of Zarlaw in Tyoll's final hours as the Empirical Jewel, soon to be shattered!
Excerpts taken from the new book A Free Tyollish History...A.W. 4; second week of planting
A small group who seem to know the acts of the Raamans, led by an Orc of all things sets a huge diversion against the Raamans. Strapping faggots of wood to the horns of such adorned animlas as goats & catlle, then setting the wood ablaze. This was accompanied by a belivable illusion from one of the High Court Wizards. The resulting confusion allowed most of the remaining population to head south for the sanctuary of the woodlands of the Kerinye Forest.
A.W. 4;A lone Orcish messenger came to the Tyollish paid troops collected north of Arronville, speaking of an Emporer that had decided for political reasons not to take the lands held by Traehaverfeld. An Emporer who had decided not to pay the armies' generals in lands & their men with spoils as promissed. The messenger told of strangely dressed troops; an elite guard who he felt would keep him safe even against the onslaught of his mercinary army.
The generals sent their own spies north on the fastest available steeds. After they reported back that strangely dressed army occupied the city & had taken many of the spies' lives with long-ranged bows, the generals moved most of the force north to take the Tyollish capital, along with their payment!
A.W. 4;
The fourth seige in Tyoll City's history takes place. This time with the last Emporer's angry mercinary generals at it's walls & the deadly remaining forces of the Raaman attack fleet holding within.
A.W. 4;Seven months into the seige & the Raamans start to fail as they wait for reinforcements from their home land. A small force is all that holds the city against the now quartered forces of the mercinary army.
A.W. 5;The remaining Raaman forces beat a hasty retreat to the docks & their waiting ships. With the Tyollish fleet either destroyed in the initial Raaman invasion or scuttled by the Raamans just prior. They flee back to the mysterious west, leaving the once proud captal of the Tyollish Empire in the hands of yet another invading force.
A.W. 5;With Tyoll city having had three ruling bodies in two years, one could be forgiven for feeling that th city would now know peace such as could exist with a mercinary occupying force at its heart.
However a small percentage of the previous population of Tyoll; led by the Orcish leader that granted them freedom & his black skinned islander comrade leading a huge legion of savages from the forests to the north, the Tyollish capital was again awash with misleading magic which led the mercinaries to their deaths in the opne fields of the City's eastern pastures.
A.W. 5;The new Council of Tyoll is set as the ruling body of the beleagered Tyollish Empire & its capital Tyoll City. Combining representatives of the lands held under the gauntlet of the last Emporer, a feeling of coming full circle washes down the western coast of the continent of Terraland. Only rumours of a force sent to bolster the mercinary force with flying cavalry unsettles the peace that reigns in the next few months leading in the cold grip of Hoar...
As you can see the calibre of the artwork has increased yet again.
The new look magazine
Here are some of the regular features that you voted for in the recent polls in the Mag and on the old Zarlaw web site:
AIR Supply - Will be a regular article showing the latest public submissions for the AIRPG System.
Have you seen fantasyscifi.com? It's crammed full of the work of amateur artists and writers. Will one of them be the next R.A. Salvatore?
|
Member of the Ring Of Australian RoleplayING |
||
There have been
Proudly...
