More Moors! More Moors! More Moors!

'nuff said.

Moors? Yes! I vote yes for moors too.

A tower symbol is not particularly intriguing to design shrines.
IMO you should try to make a new one. I'd like to see a symbol having a domed temple in Greek style (so 4 columns on a base and a dome upon them). Simple enough and evocative, I think

When I wrote my description I based myself on the picture in PWA1, which had roughly 4 forests in Wendar.
But I see your map is quite different, so we obviously need to add more...
Let's name the southernmost area Forest of Shadows/Shades (ties with Shadowmere).
We could also name the forest east of Lerian Tower the Laughing Woods (it is an ominous name actually.. it may be because the wind makes strange laughing noises when blowing through these trees, or because you can hear giggles and laughter at night...)
Then you obviously have the Kevar Woods south of Kevar and the Scarlet Temple (always talking about forests) near Surewatch Keep (the name comes from the thousands of soldiers who died in the forest defending Wendar from Denagothian invasions in the past).
Later (after AC1015) the Forest of Bounty will be divided in two halves: northern part will be renamed Forest of the Curse, and southern part will remain Forest of Bounty.
Actually I do... err.. where are the mountains? They seem to be cut off from Wendar? I would surmise the northern side of the Wendarian Range belongs to Wendar while the southern one to Glantri, and same goes for the Mengul Mountains (southern side to Wendar, northern side to Denagoth, eastern chain to Heldann)...
PS: I still don't see Shadowmere placed

I wrote a short adventure years ago for a Finnish RPG fanzine.
I translated it into Finnish for Shawn's Vaults, and you can find it
there as "Deamon with the Saddened Countenance". It depicts the
western borders of Wendar in the early phases of settlement.
Not very consistent with canon, but perhaps you could find some ideas
there?

Ville

Is it too late to submit settlement ideas? If not...

Aebhyrn Lwnn: A centaur settlement of a very reclusive, very militant and quite large centaur clan. It is located in the midst of the Dark Woods of Baamor, and unlike many centaur settlements - it has several stone "houses" ("stables"?) that the centaurs built for lodging. It is a well fortified community, led by the charismatic centauress Nawanne Shirvanawe. These are probably the only sentinent creatures willing to live in this forest, although no-one understands why.

Moors of Chlyras: These dark moors, at the midst of the Baamor Woods, are home to the hideous Aantkh-Nyr, a murderous and powerful nuckalavee who draws pleasure from killing the centaurs of Aebhyrn Lwnn. He tortured and killed Nawanne's beloved, the former leader of the centaurs, Cephae Wy'rnaav - and she is trying to get her revenge ever since.

Uumarne: This was a small fishing village, at the shores of Lake Phyrroe - a medium-sized lake at the southern side of the Forest of Bounty. Uumarne grew rapidly as many Alfheim refugees, as well as industrious Leprechauns from Alfheim, settled there - and turned the sleepy community into a thriving center of commerce and business.

BynFlaare Hall: Located at the dense forests of North-East Wendar, BynFlaare Hall is a haven for Mystics. Several monasteries and abbies are dispersed in between the high, thick foliage - as well as many caves, tree-houses and even "nests" for individual hermits.

Hope it helps.

Tower of Anorion (located in the westernmost woods - would it be possible to put the ruins on a corrupted forest hex?): Anorion was an elf-mage of great power, who worked great wonders during the years following Felzuumath's defeat. It was his guidance that led to a period of rejuvenation of the land, which had suffered greatly during the previous decades of war and strife. Inspired to perform greater deeds, Anorion quested for artefacts of great power to increase his strength, and found a strange device in a dead city of strange black stone on the Adri Vamra Plateau. One night, there was a great flash of light that lit the sky for miles around his tower, and afterwards there was silence. Visitors found no evidence of habitation the next day, and the lands surrounding the tower seemed corrupted somehow - the vegetation grew sickly, brittle, and grey in colour, and Anorion's orchards ever after bore poisonous fruit. No animal will go near the tower today, and those who spend too much time there almost inevitably sicken and die from a strange wasting disease. It is said that a wealth of magical lore remains in the tower, but it is also said that many fiendish guardians and traps await the unwary, as well as the "curse"...

Not sure if it has been mentioned yet, but the Dragonlord Trilogy mentions a valley in the south of Wendar in which Dragon-worshipping elves conduct meetings with Gold Dragons from Wyrmsteeth.

I cant remember the name of the place though. Regardless of what people may think of the actual novels, it would be a good place to look for names of places since so few other sources cover the region.

Håvard

Brethiliath (located in the great deep forest south of Wendar City): This village is where a Tree of Life is located, closely guarded by Treekeepers. The elves who live here prefer to have little to do with the outside world, and have focused on spiritual matters. In doing so, Brethiliath has become known among Wendaran elves as a place to go to learn about, and meditate on, the relationship between their race and nature, and the grand scheme of life. As a result, Brethiliath sees a fair amount of visitors - mainly elves, but also a handful of human sages interested in such matters.

Dawnblossom-Qvar: At 862 AC (please change the date if this is incompatible with timelines) a group of halflings and dwarves escaped the towers and laboratories of Glantrian wizards, and crossed the mountains in a perilous journey towards freedom and safety in Wendar. Many died along the way, but some arrived to their destination and were allowed - not without suspicion - to settle in the mountains of South-East Wendar. Thus the village of Dawnblossom-Qvar (the first word is the hin name, the second - the dwarven one. They couldn't agree on one single name) was established. This town is populated by these immigrants' descendants - who try to fit into the Wendarian society. However, the cruel experiments had their effect also on generations to come - and the hills of Wendar are often plagued by some strange disease or a monstrous mutation, originating in this miserable community. For this reason, many Wendarians resent these "short people", and demand that they will leave their kingdom.

Ooh, that is a cool village to adventure near. Me likey!

I was just thinking, that even though all these places can't make it onto the map itself, they could all end up on the Vaults helping to expand this remote region. So, with that in mind, don't stop if you got some more cool ideas!!!

Wow, I had an early night last night, and wake up this morning to find all this! There are some great ideas here. Wonderful!

I'm going to work on adding this stuff to the map, and get the updated version posted as soon as I can. In the meantime, it's a big country and there are still some areas that could do with a village or two.

Actually, I get the feeling that we are rather short of elven villages! There are quite a few human villages, as well as a few ambiguous ones, and the towns are presumably mixed. How about some more elven villages, or mixed human/elven villages?

Another thing I've been wondering about is labels for monsters. Are there any areas which are inhabited by specific groups of humanoids or other monsters in large numbers? Of course, this subject leads us in to the surrounding areas of Denagoth and the Great Northern Wildlands too...

I'm going to reply to individual stuff later when I have more time.

Yep, and exactly such a symbol exists in HWR3, so I will almost certainly use that one. But first I have to actually make it.

In actual fact, I checked last night and it seems that, aside from new symbols I might design myself, I have only HWR3's four extra symbols to do and I will be completely finished making symbols. I didn't realise there were so few left to do.

Ah, okay. That makes things a little clearer.

By the way, have you seen Thibault's Wendar map? He quotes Geoff and Christian's maps as sources, but I can't find those maps anywhere. And he has expanded Wendar's border northward, adding a huge section of forest and plains to the country. I wonder what prompted those changes, but I can't find anything fan-related to explain them.

My map is based mainly on the X11 and Wrath of the Immortals 24 mi per hex maps, keeping the southern region of the country as it was shown in GAZ3, GAZ12 and TM1. In most respects it is very faithful to the 24 mi per hex maps, though I have creatively added extra features here and there.

This is cool, because I was also thinking of giving it a dark sounding name. (I think Shadows sounds better than Shades.)

Sounds great.

Actually this sounds like a great place to use the Elven name for Kevar, Kevareth. (I found reference to it in a mysterious Elven song in X11.) So "Kevareth Woods" or "Woods of Kevareth".

Is the Scarlet Temple an actual temple, or a shrine, or what? It sounds like a temple/shrine in honour of those who died in defence of the realm.

Okay, but I won't be making maps for that era for quite a long time yet - unless I get any specific requests, that is.

The answer to this is that Wendar apparently has very little interest in mountainous ground.

Seriously, the original X11 map showed no mountains inside Wendarian territories. The Mengul Mountains are said to be within Denagoth's borders, but in fact largely unclaimed - i.e. infested with humanoids, namely orcs by the sound of things.

Wrath of the Immortals expanded the border to include the mountains north of the Kevar Hills, but when it comes to borders I'm afraid the Wrath of the Immortals map holds absolutely no conviction, because it has huge errors in all of its borders.

As for the southern border, that was laid out in GAZ3 many years ago, and it would require some major changes to the Glantrian map to give some of the Wendarian Range to Wendar.

It seems to me that it really is simpler just to concede that Wendar really doesn't have any use for mountains. The Menguls are out of the question because they are overrun with humanoids, and almost impassable to boot. The Wendarian Range is claimed by Glantri, and Glantrian wizards in search of isolation would seem to have a much better claim to that region than forest-loving Wendarians.

But if you have some counter-arguments to that, I will be happy to change the borders.

That's because I don't know exactly where to put it - I am as we speak in the middle of reading Dragonlord of Mystara for the first time, having acquired it recently, so I'm actually trying to avoid spoilers for the trilogy at the moment.

The discussion about mountains and borders has reminded me about something I've been considering lately. What are Wendar's relations with its neighbours? Where are the danger points on its borders, and does it have any kind of fortifications? Does it have to worry about invasions from Denagoth and the Menguls solely through Surewatch Keep and the mountain pass there, or are there minor orc or monster raids from other parts of the Menguls?

How about the Glantri border, and Elven Pass? Are there incursions from the Wendarian Range, by monsters or something else? That could be one reason why the Forest of Shadows got its name.

Lastly, what about the adjacent Adri Varma Plateau and the open region to the north? The plateau could form a natural barrier to any invasions, thus making that area of the country rather quieter and safer than most other borders. Alternatively, nasty monsters could occasionally come down from the plateau. Either way, it seems that fortifications and border guards will not really be necessary there. As for the far north, the Baamor Woods are a formidable entity of darkness covering half the northern border. I have considered placing a ring of towers round the edges to watch the forest.

Nope, I have not seen it. If I may add my 2 cents, probably he is referring to Geoff's map of Wendar and Denagoth, which I HAVE seen and it was really well done (hand-drawn)! Unfortunately it was huge!
I don't remember if it is still online somewhere.
I never saw a map of Wendar drawn by Christian, however... IIRC He focused on the Midlands.

So you're saying there are no mountains within the Wendarian borders?? Seems pretty strange to me, but I guess I'll have to recheck those sources..

Kevareth Woods sounds good.

I knew it would have caused confusion. Actually I was referring to the whole forest, not to a specific temple. I wanted to use something different than the usual "forest" or "woods", so I went with Temple because the forest really resembles a temple: the trunks are pillars, and the branches up there are the roof. Scarlet Temple is the forest, and it's scarlet because the blood of all the people who died there has somehow incarnadined parts of the trees and the grass.

But I am open to new suggestions for synonims of "forest" in this case

Well, even the ORclands are inside Darokin's border, but they're unsettled and inhabited by humanoids. This has nothing to do with geopolitical borders. I would like you to include those mountains which should be inside Wendar's borders, even if they're unsettled (like most of mountains inside ANY nation)

But since they're unsettled, why leaving them to Heldann or whatever? If they're claimed by Wendar, you should put them inside Wendar's borders

IIRC Glantri's northern border didn't encompass all of the Wendarian range, just the southern part, that's why I brought up this issue.. Guess I'll have to go and see the map by myself to refresh my memory then

Okay then I'll wait for you to finish reading it. However, I absolutely need you to write a review of that book coz it may have some significant info on the Sun Dragon, Diamond, and I need them!!

Wendar's northern border is constantly watched and garrisoned, because the worst problems come and have always come from Denagoth. Luckily, there are only few passes that can be used by the Denagothians to effectively march inside Wendar without risking too many casualties on the trip, so these are well guarded.
Surewatch Keep is located on the widest road to Denagoth, but I would add another Keep somewhere south-eastwards. That could be Gylharen Keep I was talking about in the MA, between Dalvarhofn and Gelhardon.

The Wendarians have had little troubles with the neighbouring Heldanners in the past two centuries, just a record of quick raids which are normal among the northmen. But the northmen have come to fear and respect the elves during the centuries, so only the hotheads dare try something against Wendar, and this keeps problems to the minimum. The keep built in this region (which you listed as Gylharen Keep) is intended to oversee the region and halt any likely raid from humanoids and humans alike. I'd call it Hawk's Gate or Falcon's Nest, something along this way, to stress the fact that these soldiers are expert falconeers.

Unfortunately, with the Heldannic Knights overtaking Heldann in AC 957, the relationship has become more tense, and Gylharen must have reinforced the garrison in that region. The Knights are not to be taken lightly, even when they are polite.

The relationships between Glantri and Wendar have been peaceful and trade is abundant since the IX century, when things in Glantri stabilized.
The Elven Pass is the only direct route through the Wendarian Range that connects the two nations, otherwise one has to travel along the Adri-Varma's eastern border to go from Glantri to Wendar without risking getting lost in the mountains.
However, there are several humanoid tribes living in the mounts, so I believe there must be some sort of fortress here, also to check in foreigners who step inside Wendar's border. Let's build a castle or a tower there and name it after some elven hero or something linked to the elves (since there's the Elven Pass). Everway Tower or Tower of the Overseer or Radiant Tower (in contrast with Forest of Shadows)...
The origin of the name of the Forest of Shadows is not yet clear in my mind for now, but it must have something to do with necromancy..

The Baamor Woods and the Laughing Woods are a real barrier on the north-western border, and the Wendarians would never expect an invasion force marching through them to get inside Wendar, so there should not be keeps built there.
Likewise, since the malicious effects of the Baamor Woods are so feared, even settling next to it is not encouraged. For this reason I would place only a tower or two, a bit far from the border of the Baamor Woods, to be used as observation points to keep the situation in check. Lerian's Tower is one of these towers, and the most dangerous assignment for any soldier (that's why It is manned only by elves, who have better resistance to magic).
You could put another one in place of the Shrine of Nione, to guard Woodgate, and call it the Tower of Twilight.
I would move the Shrine of Nione much more northwards, since it's been built where an elfin has defeated a giant. I'd place it not too far from Surewatch Keep, some hexes left to it, or in the south, south-west of Oakwall (we leave out the reference to the Denagothians and suppose that the giant was acting on his own, leading his tribe out of the Wendarian Range).
Finally, I'd place another keep or fortress, manned by elves, to guard the entrance from the Adri Varma plateau and the lowland region between the Forest of Bounty and the Woods of Baamor (another hot spot), and have a road go from Woodgate to the Adri varma region through this lowland. After all, we can see a trail going along the Adri Varma eastern border that connects Glantri to the north, IIRC it's in gAZ3 or CotM map.
The stronghold will be a typical elven one, built partly upon the trees (remember the drawing in the Expert set?), on the outer fringes of the Forest of Bounty, and we could call it with an elven name (Aelythnar or something similar, meaning Watchful Guardian) and call the lowland the Shunned Plains.

These are my advices for now.
Very interesting discussion, btw: a nice way of fleshing out Wendar

yep I'd thought the same thing too Hugin

oH AH, and another thought!

I need you to place NINE shrines, each one dedicated to each one of the Korrigans, all around Wendar inside the forests (except for the Baamor Woods). Basically what really keeps Wendar safe from Denagoth is the Elvenstar working in team with these 9 wells of powers, which spin a protective magical web around Wendar. That's how the Korrigans enchanted their land in a unique way and completed their path to immortality.
hope I've made myself clear

Off topic I know, but whilst searching for Wendar I came across these books. I assume they have nothing to do with Mystara's Wendar but has anyone read them? Any good?

Regards,
Gary

NEVER ever heard of them until today.
Funny coincidence to have two realms with the same name uh?... or as Vizzini would say, "INCONCEIVABLE!"

Me neither.

And Marco -

"You keep using that word. I dunna think it means what you think it means."

"I don't mean to pry, but you don't by any chance happen to have six fingers on your right hand?"

Ah, you gotta love it

I had a glance at your adventure earlier, and it looked very promising. When I have more time I'll have a more thorough look. Was there anything specific that I could add to the map? There really is almost no official info on Wendar anyway, so anything should be okay.

It's never too late! Seriously, I'm going to be doing this for a lot of areas, so anything that doesn't fit in here can be used elsewhere. So please post your ideas with wild abandon!

I like the idea of one or two non-human (and non-elven) settlements.

I placed these on the northern border, the idea being that there will be a little more over the border.

Okay, I worked out that we can add water features as long as they are less than a 24 mile hex in size. So small lakes, with short, small rivers, are a possibility. Check out the latest version of the map for an example!

Great work, thanks!

I'm starting to get a little concerned about the different styles of naming we have, though... Maybe at the end we should look over the names and try to revise them so they fit together better.

It seemed strange with just the tile underneath being dead, so I put it on the edge of the forest, with the adjacent trees all dead. It certainly makes things look more interesting!

By the way, with both this and Brethiliath, my Tolkien alarm is going off loudly... (The "Tower of Anarion" = Minas Anor/Minas Tirith, and Brethil is an erea in Beleriand...)

Great idea, but the south-eastern area is getting pretty full. Would you mind if I put them at the edge of the hills in the southwest? There's nothing around there at all yet...

Yep, I have Geoff's Denagoth map. It's very nice indeed, and I plan to pilfer everything from it for my Denagoth map very soon.

Yes, that is correct.

I know what you're getting at, but all the sources except for the Wrath of the Immortals map point to the borders being as I have marked them. That means GAZ3's map, GAZ12's map, TM1, Glantri: Kingdom of Magic, and X11 (map AND text). As I already noted, the Wrath map is an invalid source, because it rewrites the borders for the entire map, with no reference to previous sources.

So basically we have the southern mountains claimed by Glantri, and the Mengul Mountains claimed by Denagoth. The only mountains claimed by Wendar - according to official sources - are in the extreme southeast, near the Heldann border. Including the pass which leads into Heldann.

Go and check the maps, and you'll see what I mean.

Marco, since the forest is quite small, I have gone with "Scarlet Groves" for now. Any good?

It's a promise.

As Geoff wrote it, the Shrine of Nione was an attraction of Woodgate. And it does seem nice to keep up the continuous Denagoth connection. But then I agree that it would make more sense to put it closer to the Denagoth border. (Although note where the final battle was.)

I have moved the Shrine to a location between the battlefield and Woodgate, which I think is the best solution. (Also note the icon - I finished the HWR3 icons tonight specially for you, Marco! )

Where exactly do you mean? The Adri Varma Plateau actually curves away westwards before the northern border, so the gap north of Woodgate doesn't actually lead to the plateau. It could conceivably lead to the northern part of the plateau I suppose, because the northern edge of the plateau slopes gradually down to ground level.

I agree, it's a lot of fun too!

Thanks everyone for your input today. I have just uploaded the latest revision of the map, so please have a look on the first page of this thread. Tomorrow I will be making more adjustments, so if there are any more ideas, please keep them coming.

PS - Marco, any requests for rough locations for the Korrigans' shrines? I think they are the only thing I didn't add today, along with the dwarf-halfing town. Don't worry, I won't forget any of these things!

Hallo everyone!

First of all: great work Thorf! Your maps are amazing! And watching how your secret project proceeds is intriguing - as seeing Wendar live for the first time!

And now some questions for everyone:

a) Has the government of Wendar ever been detailed? That is, what type of monarchy Wendar is? A feudal one, like Karameikos - with baronies, counties, etc.? Perhaps feudal domains for Heldannic people and something more "Alfheimish" for the elves? If there are any domains, what about placing some borders inside Wendar 8-miles map? I'm aware there are already risks of crowding it...

b) Are the names of the nine Korrigans known? If not, they should be assigned in order to name the shrines that DM suggested.

Hi! And thanks. I'm enjoying all this a lot too.

No, the government hasn't been detailed to any degree - only mention of the Wizard-King, really, and not much more.

Personally I would prefer to see a system where the humans and elves are a little more closely knit than everyone seems to be suggesting. Segregating them is okay, but having them living together peacefully seems more interesting if you ask me.

As for borders, we could certainly add some dominion or regional borders into the map without much problem. But I'm not sure that we need them, because Wendar seems to be naturally divided up by its forests anyway. It might be a better idea to add in a few more labels for the remaining un-named areas, and leave them defined solely by the terrain.

I don't recall ever hearing the names, but I agree they would be the logical choice for shrine names. And we definitely need shrine names! (Hint, hint, Marco... )

Thanks! It is quite thrilling to see all of these on the maps. Wow.

Looking good.

I agree. We probably should think of "Elven", "Human" (both Dun and Antalian) and "Mixed" names to classify settlements by.

Sure. Does it make sense that the hin and dwarves would arrive to the Southwest from Glantri?

Again, Thanks!

Maybe they fled to Wendar to escape the Glantri persecution. And they could now be an 'underground railroad' helping people escape Glantri, as well as sending agents into Glantri to try and change the populance's atitude to hin and dwarves.

Gary

Some time ago, Marco, Shawn and I started up an informal project to write a Gazetteer for Wendar. Although we didn't get too far, I kept all the info in .doc format (including material discussed over email). We never really got to the topic of governance, but one idea we did have was that each full-fledged town would have a headman/burgomeister who ran it in conjunction with a civic government (i.e., the town was actually incorporated, IIRC, and had elves and humans in its governing council). This system of municipal government could be extended to the villages. Extending the original ideas a bit, the leader of each town/village would advise the king on matters relating directly to that settlement (i.e., crop yields, local diseases, banditry, etc.), but national matters would be decided by the king, with the advice of his own officials.

Off the top of my head.....

Perhaps the king would hold a "parliament" of sorts (perhaps modelled on traditional elvish clan councils) a few times per year, during which the town and village leaders go to Wendar City to raise important matters with the king (who is obligated to provide a response before the session ends), and to pose questions about his policies and plans. In the interests of maintaining stability, the king could be open about anything not deemed a military secret, or anything related to Denagoth. It is during these meetings that the king's advisors could develop budgets (based on what town and village heads are saying about taxes, the health of businesses, trade, etc.) and develop priorities for spending (i.e., if Oakwall's leader is having a problem with bandits, more money might be allocated to increase the garrison there, etc.)

I agree.

Geoff

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery to the masters. In all seriousness, though, Tolkien developed a great body of linguistics for his works, why not use it? TSR already set things in motion, IMO, by having Wendar be named Genalleth in elvish - Lothenar, Mengul, Gereth Minar, and Geffron also sound Tolkienseque IMO. In fact, I think that might have been designed that way - Denagoth seems quite analagous to Mordor (surrounded by fearsome mountains, too!), while Wendar seems to be a mix of Tolkien's elvish realms.

At any rate, whenever I do use Tolkienseque wording, I try to ensure it makes some sense. I was wondering when someone would notice, though.



I look very much to seeing it! I can't thank Marco enough for his input on that one. Next to Davania, Denagoth was one of the hardest maps to do - but also a very rewarding one. One thing to remember, though, Aeleris' Pits didn't exist as of AC 1000, so it should have a regular forest hex there - otherwise I'd suggest a bad magic point.

Geoff

And thank you for updating the map - it truly looks wonderful! Would that I could print it on a large piece of paper....

Good point, more on the way, then. I would note that Yngvarsvall could be a mixed settlement (with human majority of 70-80%), due to the number of soldiers who pass through it to and from Lerian's Tower - some might opt to settle down. For those who allow half-elves in their campaigns, a fair percentage of the village's humans (perhaps up to 25%) could be reclassified as half-elves (again, due to the number of elvish soldiers who pass through...)

On the issue of the northern border (and Thib's map), how about this:

At various times in the past, the elves have claimed the northern wildlands for their own, some undertaking the perilous task of settling the dark forests and building strongholds. In times of prosperity, new realms were carved out of the wilderness, and the border crept northwards. In darker times, evil things swept down from the Mengul Mountains, and from the fearsome Adri Varma Plateau, and in their wake there was nothing but ruined fortresses and towns, and streams of refugees fleeing south, telling their brethren of the horrors that stalked them. Even during the worst times, the heartlands in the south remained free for the most part, made secure by a network of fortresses and towers, but always the wildlands beckoned, promising fantastic things to those with the strength and courage to find them.

Gylharen, wishing to usher in a new era of strength for Wendar, has called on the bravest souls - human and elven - to cross the frontier into the wildlands, and retake that which was lost many times before. This time, Gylharen has the Elvenstone, and the guidance of the Korrigans, to strengthen him. Legends abound of lost elven cities, hidden deep in forbidding ancient forests, filled with priceless lore and treasures: many-towered Soreth, Thalion, with its bridge of unsurpassing beauty, and silver-domed Nimbeth. All were built and held by the elves in times past, and, perhaps, they might be retaken by the men and elves of modern Wendar.

Perhaps the best thing to do would be to draw a map based on Thib's work, but populate it with interesting sites (bad/good magic points, ruins), as well as known monster lairs - maybe a dragon?

Geoff

There are a couple of good articles at the Vaults about the elvish language, done by Jonathan Nolan on the MML a long time ago-

Wendarian
Elven Language

I tend to use these quite a bit when fleshing out elvish names and languages, even though I disagree a bit with some of the transliterations. In particular, his Wendarian language doesn't incorporate the elvish words that Geoff refers to from X11 (Genalleth, Kevareth, etc.). He comes up with a completely different origin for the name of the realm- though a compromise between the two is easily found.

I also refer to Tolkien quite a bit in reference to Wendar/Denagoth, as Geoff also suggests here. There isn't a direct connection to be made, but it can serve as a guideline. For instance, when trying to figure out the origins of the tower of Gereth Minar, I compared it to the tower of Minas Tirith- very similar words, though switched around- and tried to devise the origins of the language based on that.

As for the elves and humans of Wendar, that was always kind of an interesting situation. From what I gather from X11 (I'm missing the first two pages, sadly), the two races are pretty well intermingled. I always got the impression that Bensarian was supposed to be a half-elf, for that matter. I wouldn't be surprised to see half-elves from Wendar- the "legendary" half-elves that Thelven Fox-Eyes (from the Dragon* series) was mistaken for were thought to have come from the north, as well, IIRC.

(Gylharen was an interesting problem, as he seems clearly human from his description in X11, but is later changed to elvish in the Trail Maps and later products. Which would have been fine, if one supposed that perhaps Gylharen was a title or something, but then PWA1010 made Gylharen the original, and long-lived, ruler. Shawn and Marco came up with a very interesting solution to the dilemma, though.)

Because you demanded it....

Laurianta (located in light forest, ideally next to a small stream/river): Laurianta is a properous elven village, made so by virtue of the fast-flowing Laure ("Golden" to the humans) River (so named because of extensive deposits of iron pyrite (fools' gold) in the riverbed rocks, which catch the sun's rays and glow warmly in the water). The industrious villagers have built several water wheels to operate their mills, saws (the wood from Laurianta is recognised for its quality, and some of the finest furniture is made here), and other enterprises. In so doing, they manage to produce as much many larger villages, while having plenty of time for leisure. Outsiders claim that the Laurianta is so named because elves built a bridge of gold, but the village's name, in fact, stems from the fact that the Laure is a dangerous river to ford for the unwary - this place is one of the few safe places to cross it, and the village grew up around the sturdy bridge that was built here centuries ago.

Geoff