Sneak Peek - Faithful Quartermasters of Iuz
Added 2023-11-30 20:55:05 +0000 UTC
Hey everyone, and happy Sneak Peek Thursday! It's always a refreshing change to pivot from the grim and dreary village of Barovia to Saltmarsh's bright and vibrant lands. Today, I am showing a sneak peek of my next map inspired by the Faithful Quartermasters of Iuz.
Operated out of Saltmarsh by Captain Xendros, this location is used for a multitude of reasons. Primarily, it is a trade delegation that exports fish from Saltmarsh to their northern homeland ruled over by the Cambion demigod Iuz. In addition, this location serves as a hub for trading, buying, & selling magic items with Xendros, who has access to a wide array of trinkets most in Saltmarsh don't.
I have to admit I was a little puzzled with how I was going to approach this building. What would inspire the design of the lesser-known northern realm? How would Xendros live while staying here? How big would this building be? And most importantly, how can I make this location unique to my style of map-making?
After an awesome suggestion from my wife, who recommended I check out the shell cottage from Harry Potter, I began to find my inspiration and decided it would be a neat touch to make the roof entirely made out of giant clam shells (over 2,000 of them!) with dried seaweed for packing. Most of the villagers avoid Captain Xendros for the grim and grizzly jewelry she wears, and I wanted this almost unsettling design to permeate around the features here. The interior will feature a magic shop with all manner of exotic and strange trinkets. I will also include a lounge space, storage, office, and an upstairs with a bedroom and, of course, a creepy Izu worship room (and rest assured, there will be a lot of candles for that sweet, dramatic lighting!).
While I did not know much about this location before diving into the project, I'm now very excited to run Xendros in my own Saltmarsh game and have felt very inspired by her background and motivations as this fun, neutral character that your party can never quite figure out what side she's on.
I hope you enjoyed the sneak peek, and I'll have the full map ready for release by Monday.
Cheers,
DM Andy
