Pirates of DarkWater: Mer

The world of Mer is the setting for "The Pirates of DarkWater", a television series that came out during the 1990's by Hanna-Barbera. It follows the adventures of Prince Ren, heir to Octopon, who goes on a quest to restore the world of Mer from the influence of DarkWater. Some time ago, and entity known as the Dark Dweller was sealed beneath the Seas of Mer. Within the past few decades, the Dark Dweller seal has cracked, and it has release a substance into the world know as "DarkWatrer". This ooze like substance is poisonous and corrosive to life in general, and where it has seeped up it has destroyed and corrupted many animal and plants. King Primus of Octopon discovered that 13 artifacts were the key to fight back this substance. Unfortunately, he was hunted down by Pirates.

The World of Mer, is a water world with a few large land masses scattered across the globe. Some of the largest landmass are Octopon, Andorus, Janda and Pandawa. There are countless reefs, atols, and  islands scattered across the globe yet to be explored. The vast majority of people are human, but there are other races like the Kree, Scon, and Antari. There are some intelligent non-humanoid species, such as Monkey-Birds that are found on Pandawa.

If you are look for a swashbuckling campaign, with an Arabic feel... the series gives a lot of feel for that.
You can gain a lot of information about the series as well as the old RPG from this site.

Asian Locations: Dragonlance

On the world of Krynn "Dragonlance", there are no major Asian cultures found.However, a variant of the Mongolians can be found on the continent of Taladas. In Northern Hosk, among the Tamire.... there miles and miles of plains and steppe, broken up every once in awhile by mountain ranges that ring the Great Sea of Fire.
These people are wild and live off the land, a far different cry from most civilized Asian locations.

   It is here that five tribes of people live their life with the land. The Uigan are the dominant Horselords controlling much of the Tamire. The two smaller tribes, the Purgi and Pureshk, live as allies to the Uigan.
To the far north, another tribe of fierce warrior known as the Kazar, a migratory people that spend there time among the borders of the Panak Desert and Il-quars during the seasonal months of summer and winter.
High in the mountain are the Alan-atu, a herding society that has little contact with the people of the Steppe.

   The Uigan biggest rivals on the Steppes come from the Tamire Elves.Ulike the most known elves of Krynn, the Tamire behave in a very similar lifestyle to that of the Uigan and are fierce warriors. Even the Kagonesti would have trouble with identifying with them, since the cultures are so different. The Tamire and divided up into various tribes, each identified by a Spirit Totem (ex. Horse Clan, Tiger Clan, Wolf Clan).

The people of the northern steppe worship the same gods as most of Krynn. However, these deities are known by different names here. Chislev is called Jijin, Kiri-Jolith is called Qu'an the Warrior, Mishakal  is called Mislaxa, Nuitari is called Ne'Ugiar, Solinari is called Toyaqual, and Takhisis called Erestem. Both shamans and priest respect these powerful beings, but as they have remained silent since the cataclysm most are venerated out of tradition more than anything else.

Asian Locations: Forgotten Realms

On the world of Toril, the eastern side of the main continent is home to a large Asian population. It's representation of the east is found in kingdoms of Kara-Tur (Mainland Asia), the Plains of the Horselords (Mongolian Steppe), Tabot (Tibet),Ra-Khati (Nepal), Koryo (Korea), Laothan (Laos/Cambodia), Petan (Vietnam), Kuong (Siam), and the Island Nation of Koza-Kura and Wa (Japan). TSR has released a two box sets (Kara-Tur and The Horde) that have attempted to inject a healthy sense of an Asian Campaign setting for play. Various adventure modules have been created, but were not as popular as the core western settings. It even has some greater connection to the Spelljammer Campaign Setting as both Wa and Shou Lung have managed to position themselves in the Fantasy Space of the Forgotten Realms.

Chinese Flavor....
Kara-tur mimics mainland China, but separated into two kingdoms of Shou Lung (North) and T'u Lung (South). Like china it is home to a myriad of ethnic human cultures as well as some fantasy races.
All the court intrigues and wars are found here, as their is much tension between the Shou Lung, and within the Kingdoms that make up T'u Lung. The Shou Empire was first founded by Nung Fu, who received a divine mandate from Heaven, and was the  first Emperor of the Li Dynasty. Since that time there have been several other Dynasties...ending with the Kuo Dynasty which was briefly taken over by the Tuigen of the Hordelands.
T'u Lung, in the south, broke away from the Shou Empire during the Lui Dynasty. Since then the country has been in constant conflict with the Shou and with each other. Each of the six provinces fight amongst themselves. Although currently overseen by the Empress, theses petty kings have sights on each other and the  Throne.  The Celestial Bureaucracy (Chinese Pantheon) is worshiped by many, and representation of some of the more popular philosophies are also found here.

The Hordelands are lime Mongolia... comprised of a vast steppe and desert that separate Kara-tur from Faerun. The Tuigen are skilled riders and feared by many as great warriors. 
Tabot, similar to Tibet,  is found high in the southwest mountains, and is a nation overseen by monks and the Master of Oceans. it is a spiritual nation and lies along the borders of Malatra and Zakhara.
Ra-Khati is a small valley nation, similar to Nepal found north of Tabot and close to the Hordelands. It isolate itself from the rest of the world.

Japanese Flavor....
The Islands of Wa and Koza-kura inject variations of imperial and feudal japan. Wa is very similar to Japan during the Edo period, where the Shogun hold true power and the Emperor is just an icon. Wa tends to be an isolationist country, although it has had it fair share of blows with the nation of Shou Lung during the Omi Wars. For a while it was a vassal state of Shou...as the Shou invaded Wa due to acts of piracy. An invasion from the Hordelands, and the untimely civil war within the Empire of Shou Lung (Lui Dynasty)  lead Wa to become and independent nation once again.

To the east of Wa, the island of Koza-kura relfects Japan during the Warring States period. Many Fuedal lords and their Samurai fight amongst themselves in a bid for territory and resources. Many wandering Ronin can be found here. Like Wa the Yakuza has a strong presence. The only main difference is that the Korobokura (asian dwarf) were native and treated as lower class citizens by the populace.

Korean Flavor...
Not much is known about Koryo....but it is an analog of Korea.

Other Asian tastes....
Lastly it is believed that Laothan (Laos/Cambodia), Petan (Vietnam), and Kuong (Siam) fill in the gap for the rest of the Asian cultures found in the realms. Supplemental information on these place are far in few in between but you can always fill thins in!

Greyhawk: Conquest of Nerath

The birth of 4E D&D heralded confusion in 2008 as it attempted to re-established the continuity of the D&D Universe. After sometime, the Core World of 4E was unknown and many thought it could be Abeir, the twin world of Toril (Forgotten Realms). Since the publication of the 4E D&D Comics and the Boardgame "Conquest of Nerath" the truth can finally be told. The world of Nerath is one of the many parallel worlds of Oerth (Greyhawk). 

How can this be? Well the 4E Core book for one introduces many new gods, as well as several gods familiar with the Greyhawk Pantheon. Second, many of the adventures published tried to be as generic as possible.... but trying to capitalize on veterans players it made 4E versions of some classic modules. With the comics and new board game... it has cemented these revised classic module (Greyhawk) in the 4E World of Nerath. The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth, The Vault of the Drow, Whiteplume Mountain, and The Temple of Elemental Evil are some of the few iconic Oerthian places found in Nerath...ergo.... Nerath is 4E Oerth!!! Ironically even the kingdom of Sarthel of Nerath resembles the continent of the Flaness!!

So what do we know of Nerath? Well we know that there are presently two continents, divided  by a sea with a large island in the middle. The Old Empire of Nerath is found on the western continent and this is where Nentir Vale is also located at. Just south of Nerath is the Iron Circle.... another kingdom. The eastern continent, hold both Karkoth and Vailin. The latest issue of the 4E Dragon and Dungeons Magazines have been giving historical information of the world of Nerath, fleshing it out bit by bit. Also it would be advisable to also check out the 4E D&D Comics as it follows the adventure of the iconic character of the 4E world in Nerath!.

Famous Spellcasters: Tula

Name: Tula
World: Mer aka "Pirates of Darkwater"
Spells: None Named.
Magical Items: None

Tula is and Andorian whose family fled to nearby Octopon when the Black Wave of Black Death washed over Andorus. For much of her earlier life she worked in a tavern making ends meet. Like all Andorians she has an affinity with Ecomancy, a school magic of nature magic that can affects animals, plants, and the very elements themselves. Her skills as a warrior and mage come in very handy.

She further mastered he abilities as she sailed with Prince Ren in his quest to bring together the Thirteen Treasures of Rule. Their quest hopes to restore the world of Mer back to its former glory and banish the "Dark Water" that has sapped much of the life fore of the world.