DA1 "Adventures in Blackmoor" strongly implies that Blackmoor was located near the Broken Lands in The Lands and Environs of the D&D Wilderness, on what would later be referred to as the continent of Brun.
It's therefore perplexing that ancient Blackmoor was labeled south of Thonia on the continent of Skothar, on the precataclysmic map of the Outer World in the Hollow World Campaign Set (1990):
Precataclysmic map of Skothar, depicting the location of ancient Blackmoor, from the Hollow World Campaign Set (1990).
This resulted in some head-scratching at the time, particularly given that Blackmoor was supposed to be north of Thonia, but is clearly an error, as a careful reading of the timeline in the Hollow World Campaign Set will establish.
Precataclysmic map of the Outer World, from the Hollow World Campaign Set (1990).
Timeline of the Outer World:
The timeline of history in the Hollow World Dungeon Master's Sourcebook provides several details placing Blackmoor squarely within central Brun:
BC 4,500: Beastmen - reincarnated souls of evil beings - appear in the Borean Valley, a frozen land north of Blackmoor. These Beastmen arc wild, chaotic creatures which do not breed true; whelps may have some or none of the traits of their parents, may be of different size and appearance. This is all brought about by the magic of Hel, an immortal of the Sphere of Entropy, who wants to introduce more confusion, dismay and death into the world.
The Borean Valley is the major river valley in northern Brun, stated to be north of Blackmoor.
BC 4,000: The human Blackmoor civilization begins a meteoric rise due to its great success in developing powerful sciences and technologies. It conquers and assimilates all surrounding human tribes and quickly grows very powerful.Another human civilization, the Oltecs, begins a more stately rise toward civilization in lands far to the south of Blackmoor. Protected by deep forests and sheltering hills, they do not have any communication with Blackmoor.
The Oltecs appear on Brun, in lands far to the south of Blackmoor.
BC 3,500: The Blackmoor civilization is flourishing. It conducts trade and intermittent war with the southern elves, at the other end of the world. Four clans of elves colonize in the region near Blackmoor. Both the southern and the colonial elves embrace Blackmoor's technology. Blackmoor's priests demand the extermination of the "unnatural" beastmen in the Borean Valley, and promote holy wars to hunt down and destroy those creatures.BC 3,200: The Blackmoor crusades drive the Bcastmcn farther north, into the land called Hyborea; they adapt to the colder climate and survive.
The Hyborean Reaches are labeled on the precataclysmic map of Brun, north of the Beastmen.
Postcataclysmic map of the Outer World, from the Hollow World Campaign Set (1990). Replica map, from the Atlas of Mystara
BC 3,000: Some Blackmoor devices explode, shifting the axis of the Known World in an event later called the Great Rain of Fire. Blackmoor becomes the north pole and its civilization disappears. The elven civilization becomes the south pole; the elves are able to migrate to the area called Grunland (which now begins centuries of volcanic upheaval which lead to its being renamed Vulcania). These southem-continent elves, though suffering hardship, are not in immediate danger of extinction and so none are taken to the Hollow World.Survivors of the elven colony near Blackmoor flee to the Broken Lands; they burrow deep into the ground to survive the aftereffects of the Great Rain of Fire. These are the ancestors of the Shadow Elves,One of the most dangerous Blackmoor devices is left untouched in the Broken Lands (see module X1).
More evidence for a location of ancient Blackmoor in proximity to the Broken Lands.
BC 2,400: The land that was Hyborea is now warming up; the Beastmen migrate to the area that was once Blackmoor, which is now the northern pole, and thrive there. They are beginning to breed true, in recognizable species.
A look at the migrations on the postcataclysmic map of the Outer World clearly labels the location of the Beastmen in BC 2,400 within central Brun.
Map from the D&D Companion Set (1984) depicting the actual location of ancient Blackmoor (my addition).
Brun and the Map of the Great Kingdom:
The map of the D&D world was originally based on a paleogeographic map of our own planet, with Brun corresponding to North America.
I think TSR missed a great opportunity to link the D&D Companion Set map to the OD&D map of the Great Kingdom, which is likewise based on a map of North America:
Map of the Great Kingdom, from Domesday Book #9.
In fact, Blackmoor appears in the same general location on the map of the Great Kingdom as its probable location on the map of Brun:
Location of Blackmoor on the map of the Great Kingdom
It would be interesting to link the OD&D and Mystara settings in this way, for those who might be so inclined.
Yeah I keep the broken lands as blackmoor with ethengar formerly being the great bay and thonia i the lands of the known world to the south. This makes the thonian empire rather limited in scope and a bit more manageable realistically. I have yet to produce a polished map, just some scribbling on printouts of the known world map.
ReplyDeleteThat works really well, and reminds me of another reason to support why Blackmoor was on Brun - that Thonia was the precursor to Thyatis, as evidenced by the fact that the common tongue of Thonia evolved into the common tongue of Thyatis.
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