Traldar and Traladara Ruins in Karameikos

The Priory of Kells, source

I am going back to where this blog started - Karameikos. One of my earliest posts since I restarted the blog is about dungeons in Karameikos. That post didn’t really offer new ideas, only a quick overview of the official version, noting that there were not many official mentions of dungeons in Gaz1: The Grand Duchy of Karameikos,  but that would not stop an imaginative DM from placing plenty of their own around. 

Going back through the history section of the gazetteer I noticed that there are large gaps in the history. Like blank spaces on the map, I see this less as a lack of information and more as a blank canvas, spaces in the timeline where the DM can add their own events and changes. There are only 19 entries in the official timeline for Karameikos that stretches over 3000 years. Clearly for the sake of page count and simplicity for new readers I can understand why TSR kept the history very concise. But it does raise questions in my mind of what lesser events may have happened that were omitted for the sake of brevity. 

Nonetheless I have spotted things in the gazetter that I hadn’t last time round. Kelvin for example is a very Thyatian town, named after one of Duke Stefan’s loyal lieutenants. However, underneath are Traldar ruins, possibly forming a dungeon beneath Kelvin. Penhaligon has no such mention of Traldar or Traladaran ruins but I would certainly consider the possibility. Outside Threshold there is a ruined village of Hutaakan origin. Although I would expect soldiers from Threshold to regularly sweep the surface ruins for monsters before they start to threaten townsfolk, I can imagine they would avoid that flight of stairs that leads down into the dark, leaving such matters to foolhardy adventurers. I still have not tackled the ruined village of Krakatos and whatever might lie beneath. 

The Traladarans as Mystaran Celts?

Although the Traladarans have eastern European sounding names (particularly Yugoslav and Romanian) I am really not familiar with bronze-age Romania. I don't know anyone outside of those countries who does, and if they do, they probably don’t play D&D. However, my next best point of reference is western European Celts. I don’t think these are what the writers had in mind when describing the Traladara, but they are something I can at least have some concept of. And it fits in with them rubbing shoulders with and then being taken over by the much more powerful Byzantine/Roman Thyatian Empire to the East. The Celts also had their own distinct culture, art and legends but were not quite as civilized as the Romans, not developing their own cities or writing. This fits with the Traladara not having large cities, and their legends seem to have been recorded by Thyatian scholars, not their own. Western Celts had actually mastered iron smelting, and so were more iron age than bronze age - this could be reflected in traditional Traladara weapons and armour. 

Of course the Celts and Romans had a much more violent history, from the Gauls sacking Rome in 390BC to Julius Ceasar’s bloody conquest of Gaul, his foray into Britain and then Claudius’ conquest of Celtic Britain and the destruction of the druids and finally Boudicca’s sacking of Verulanium followed by the brutal Roman suppression of her revolt. I can imagine that there would have been similar clashes between Traladarans and Thyatians over the centuries since AC 0 as Karameikos would be an obvious target for Thyatian expansion and conquest. 

In real world history, Roman expansion into the Celtic world was a combination of factors, including bloody conquest, trade, culture and political alliances. What Traladaran chief fighting off rival chiefs in Traladara would turn down an offer of gold coins and forged iron weapons from Thyatis? All the Thyatians want in return is a little cooperation if their mutual enemies start attacking Thyatian interests on the south coast of Traladara. There were limits to Roman expansion - Hadrian’s Wall between northern England and Scotland is the biggest and most spectacular example of this. Romans also never had a military presence in Ireland, though the discovery of Roman coins in Dublin shows that they certainly traded there. In fact that’s how I see Specularum: As Marilenev Port it was Traladara’s main trading centre where the majority of foreign traders were Thyatian. As well as Thyatian goods and coins, they also brought over Thyatian ideas about architecture and city planning. The city of Specularum mapped out in the Gazetteer was not just built within the 30 years since Duke Stefan Karameikos arrived.  After the Roman invasion of Britain a new group emerged - the Romano-Britons, of Celtic ancestry and retaining some aspects of their heritage but adopting a lot of Roman culture, dress and attitudes. I imagine current Karameikos and Karameikians to be a similar amalgamation of cultures. 

Of course Mystara is not the real world, and two things that the Traladarans had to deal with that Celts did not were obviously effective magic (clerics and magic users) and monsters (lycanthropes, undead, humanoid tribes and the occasional dragon). Although the Celts of western Europe were fighting among themselves while also fighting the Roman Empire, I can imagine the Traladarans fighting off humanoid hordes such as the goblins migrating into the Dymrak Forest, the orcs encroaching from the Black Peaks and of course the hated gnolls, whose near-genocidal wars a thousand years ago brought the collapse of the ancient Traldar culture and the dark age from which the more recent Traladara culture emerged. In fact, this is probably the main reason they were less violent towards the Thyatians - both viewed the orcs, goblins and gnolls as a common enemy. Trading weapons and armour and diplomatic favours was more about fighting off these humanoids than neighbouring Traladarans.

There are also less barbaric demihumans - the gnomes around Highforge, the Callarrii Elves, halfling settlers from the Five Shires and dwarves migrating from Rockhome during its expansionist phase settling in the Altan Tepes, including Tarrag Duun. All of these would have had their own interactions with both the Thyatians and the Traladarans.  I imagine the Traladarans would have considerable respect, even awe, for the elves. The Thyatians would probably prefer the gruff, no-nonsense work ethic of the dwarves, The halflings were not considered particularly dangerous but they were good farmers and boasted an excellent cuisine. 

In terms of magic there are far fewer references in the gazetteer. Zirchev, King Halav’s right-hand man, was a wizard of great power. But the Traladarans do not have much of a magical tradition, certainly not compared to Glantri, Alphatia or even Thyatis. Nonetheless I can imagine the Circle of Zirchev as a network of Traladaran human mages who learnt magic use from the elves. Whether they are still around today or were absorbed into the more modern orders of mages in Karameikos is not clear. Perhaps they form a secret pro-Traladaran group within the Specularum Magician's Guild?

Celtic druids linking into D&D druids in old Traladara feels like a blog post for another time. And I am seriously considering this. However, the gazetteer does not mention druids but does talk about the Church of Traladara and the veneration of King Halav. One sect, the Church of Halav, has gone so far as to equate the current Duke Stefan with the ancient King Halav. The Church of Traladara seems more relaxed and less zealous than the Church of Karameikos from Thyatis. In terms of the struggle between Law and Chaos, in this campaign both the Church of Traladara and the Church of Karameikos are considered denominations of the Church of Law. They both have Lawful outlooks on life and behaviour.  They may not always agree with each other, and like real world sects there may be hardliners in each insisting that their version of Law is the correct one and everyone else is wrong. But when it comes to dealing with the Cult of Chaos and chaotic monsters the majority of both the Church of Traladara and the Church of Karameikos can put their differences aside to fight their common foe. In terms of immortals, the Church of Karameikos follows Law as a principle and as a cosmic force, while the Church of Traladara focuses on King Halav as an immortal - he has indeed ascended to become a Lawful saint, and is able to grant clerical spells and the ability to turn undead to his clerics. Queen Petra and Zirchev the Mage are lesser immortals, but are still able to grant clerical abilities to clerics who devote themselves to these two. In previous writings on this blog I have made references to the Church of Law in and around the Grand Duchy of Karameikos. I think it is simple to say that unless specific immortals and saints are mentioned the Church of Law involved will be the Church of Karameikos. 

Of course all this comparing Celts with Traladarans comes with a caveat that applies to all the cultures in Mystara - they may be inspired by real world historical nations and cultures but should not be considered accurate replicas. Darokin is not the same as Rennaisance Italy, the Northern Reaches are not the same as Viking Scandinavia and Nithia is not the same as ancient Egypt. After all, Karameikos has knights in shining armour and crenellated castles, even on the cover of the Gazetteer. So whatever the Traladarans may borrow from Roman-era Celts, they should not be considered historically accurate. 

Traladaran Ruins

So what does this mean in terms of Traladaran ruins? Here are some rough ideas that I could develop further:

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Burial Cairns and Tumuli. These can be classic dungeons, either relatively small and simple like their real-world equivalents or being extensive catacombs with a Traladaran/Celtic flavour. 

Standing Stones: Like Avebury or Stonehenge, these upright stones usually larger than a man are occasionally solitary but often in a circle. They are built on powerful confluxes of mystical energy, also known as ley lines. The exact effects are up to the DM but those who are aligned to the purpose of these standing stones their spellcasting is enhanced. 

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Hill Forts, either abandoned or still occupied. These are (or were) Traladaran settlements defended by earthwork ditches and wooden pallisades. If properly maintained by their inhabitants they still offer good military defences against conventional attacks from bandits or goblinoids. 

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Shrines and Chapels to Halav, Petra and Zirchev have been built since the revival of Traladara culture 600 years ago. Some of these are still in use, tended by a cleric or two and maybe with some parishioners from local villages and farmsteads. Others will have fallen into ruin - whether through lack of faith or struck by some disaster. Reclaiming these lost places of worship would boost the adventurers’ status at least among those Traladarans who follow the old ways. 

Thyatian outposts from before the Karameikos takeover. These would be both military and economic in use, with soldiers providing safety for traders. This is inspired by some of the Roman forts on Hadrian’s Wall where a lot of trading took place. Some might still be maintained by what would now be the forces of Duke Stefan Karameikos while others have fallen into ruin perhaps after being sacked. 

Battlefields are not exactly ruins but hold the remains of many fallen warriors and whatever possessions have survived the ravages of time. Of course in D&D the big worry here is undead creatures, especially when dark, chaotic magic is involved.

So where are these Traladaran features found in Karameikos? At the moment I am not going to put a whole lot of them on the map of Karameikos. However, I am reserving the option of placing them as and when they are needed by adventures or other blog posts. Similarly events in Traladaran history may not have been important enough to be included in the Gazetteer timeline but could still be part of the background of places, items and adventures the PCs may encounter.