UPDATE: August
2010
I know, I know, I’ve been a total slug and
haven’t done anything with my beloved Rhunyen lately. Bad
Nic, baaaaad! The good news is I just began running Rhunyen again,
so with the new inspiration I'll have the impetus to revise the
site, content, etc. I've written up some major additions to the
world, cultures, items, etc., along with some new art. Rather than
try to update it all at once, I'll try to start sprinkling new
things over the site as time permits. ;-)
What is
Rhunyen?
Rhunyen is my unique fantasy role-playing world
and unlike many fantasy RPGs is not derived from the works of J.R.R. Tolkien and
European history (cool as they both are). I got my initial
inspirations from the mountains of northern Montana and by
several artists from the 1960s &
1970s. The idea gelled for
a long while until brain bugs took over and forced me to put it to
paper. Generally speaking, Rhunyen can be played as a game setting
using any role-playing game system, however it runs best
using my own
system.
On this site you'll find the ever-evolving world of Rhunyen, and
some game materials specific to my RizerGS game system. Except
where noted all artwork and content is from my own wacky brain.
Bear in mind there are plenty of grammatical typos, misspellings
and incomplete sections at the moment, as Rhunyen is a work in
progress -- you've been warned.
Rhunyen in a
Nutshell...
Rhunyen
consists of all the land that's habitable above a very mysterious
& dangerous layer of mist -- a world of fog & sky. Think of
continents as plateaus (but with mountains and all sorts of varied
terrain) above an endless sea of mist (see the World Map). The Eversea is a great volcano-like well of
water rises out of the mist sea, but it's waters slowly flow
endlessly down below the mist. The only bodies of water are
freshwater lakes and rivers on the various continents and islands.
One continent, the Yellow Lands, broke away and floats above the
mists and other continents.
Rhunyen is hardly a safe place. Besides the hostility between the
various cultures/borders, the mist brings death, or worse, and many
strange creatures inhabit the world. It's flora and fauna are both
beautiful and often unpredictable. Mammals (save for the Lovrinn
and Zirtese) are virtually non-existent, while insects and reptiles
are common, and not uncommonly a fusion of the two. Flora tends to
be colorful, sometimes motile, and often predatory. Rhunyen's
terrains are varied and filled with a bizarre mix of minerals and
resources, however the extremely corrosive nature of the mist
forged metals are nonexistent. That right, no usable metals for
tools, weapons or armor.
Rhunyen is also a place of wonder and magic. You won't find any
traditional fantasy wizards, but instead, some cultures use symbols
and sounds infused with power, to achieve subtle or flamboyant
spells and feats. Other cultures get their abilities as gifts from
gods or spirits, while some have natural insight and the gift of
invention. All these combine to make Rhunyen a world both wondrous
and chaotic.
