Discover the World of Trudvang - Part 1
Trudvang: A World of Epic Sagas
This is an ancient land, filled with magic and mystery. The people who live here are hardy and rugged. Civilization exists, but it is sparse and separated by wide tracts of untamed wilderness. There are enormous, ancient forests. There are wide plains. There are archipelagos of unique islands. To the far north, a vast frozen expanse stretches for seemingly forever, so dangerous that it is said a man will only live for as long as he can stay awake. This is Trudvang, and this is the land in which players will travel around in the upcoming Trudvang Legends board game from CMON and Riot Minds. In this article, we’ll briefly explore the different regions on this mythical landscape.
The land of Trudvang can be broken up into different regions. To the east, there’s the Stormlands. In the west, there’s Westmark. Separating the two is the Mittlands. The south is dominated by the Soj, a collection of islands. Going north, one finds the Nhoordlands, overseen by the mighty Jarngand mountains, and containing the Darkwood, the most ancient and foreboding forest of them all. At the very farthest northern reaches, there is the Great White. Let’s take a look at each of these regions and see what makes them unique.
The Stormlands, as one would expect from the name, is a land of clashes between the natural world and that of civilization. This is an untamed land. The rivers are filled with treacherous rapids. The snow-capped mountains are nigh unclimbable. The forests are deep. The warmth of summer lasts but a fleeting moment before the harsh cold of winter once more takes hold. The people that live here are as untamed as their homeland. The warriors shave their heads and usually wield huge axes. They are known for entering devastating rages. The borders of this land are ill-defined. A traveler might suddenly find themselves caught up in a major storm and suddenly realize that they’ve strayed into the Stormlands.
Mittland, by contrast, is a place of splendor. Dominated by grasslands, this is a land of heroes. The wide plains are home to giant herds of horses while gryphons soar overhead. The region is pockmarked by ruins of kings and heroes long since dead. It is an epic land for epic people. People who may start out as humble farmers may find themselves drawn up into plots much larger than the family home and range far and wide across Trudvang. Not to say that heroes only come from Mittland, but a large number do.
Bordering the other side of the Mittland is Westmark. The peoples here are dominated by the Viranns. While strength of arms is respected, it is not nearly as highly regarded as strength of mind. Learning is valued above all else and the Westmark is home to great schools, libraries, and repositories. Those seeking any kind of information can find it in the Westmark, though it may come at a price. This legacy of knowledge comes after a long, dark time where trolls had ruled the land, enslaving the population and marching them away, never to be heard from again. The current civilization was freed by Siro Werte, and many are infinitely thankful for the new age of stability that he brought to the land.
In the south is the Soj, the mystical archipelago of islands inhabited by the elves. Their story is one of heartache and abandonment. Long ago, the dragons rose up to make Trudvang their own land. The elves and their gods, the Vanir, took up arms to defeat them. The Vanir, immune to dragonfire, were strong on the battlefield. However, at the final battle, the Vanir were not present. They had left the elves to fight on their own. Many elves died a burning death in that battle. Though they were triumphant, the elves paid a heavy price. They seeked out the Vanir, looking to see why they had not stood with the elves, but the Vanir were gone. Now, the Vanir are only barely visible in the sky, ever-retreating from the world.
The Nhoordland in the north is bisected and bordered to their north by the Jarngand mountains. These mighty peaks are so insurmountable that the hardiest giants or the most committed dwarves have not reached their summits. They form a nearly impenetrable barrier to the areas further north still. The Nhoordland is also home to the Darkwood, the oldest forest in Trudvang. Here, trolls, dragons, and other creatures hold court and curate secrets that humans, elves, and dwarves can’t even comprehend. Who knows what plots are being hatched under the canopy of darkness?
While the Great White is considered part of the Nhoordland, it really deserves to be a region in and of itself. A place of unrelenting cold and dark, it is almost entirely uninhabited. Certainly, no humans, elves, or dwarves have settlements there. The snow is thick and ancient, stretching as far as the eye can see. Many brave souls have ventured there. And many brave souls have certainly died there, forever trapped in the frozen wasteland. Only the mightiest ice giants call this wasteland home, and they rule over it from their massive castles built out of solid ice.
Here you have but a small taste of what awaits you in the lands of Trudvang. While much of the land is wild and untamed, there are still glittering cities and quaint villages. There is certainly no lack of adventure to be had, as getting merely from one settlement to another can be enough or a lifetime’s worth of stories. What stories will you create when you go adventuring across this wild and untamed landscape? That’s for you to find out when you play Trudvang: Legends.
By Jason "Polar Bear" Koepp
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