wildermods | THE FREE PEOPLES

THE FREE PEOPLES

The Free Peoples of the Wilderlands are those who have yet to come under the control of The Unfinished Princess or the Dark Lord Sauron. They are the residents of many worlds who have found themselves and parts of their world pulled into the Wilderlands. The residents of these realms are just as confused to find themselves in the Wilderlands as the PCs, but some have gained at least some information about the nature of the Wilderlands that may be useful to the PCs.

While some of the free nations and realms are violent towards their new neighbors, some realms have allied with others for mutual protection or have had their populations intermingle and live together due to finding a kinship with each other. For instance, the hobbits of the Shire and the munchkins of Munchkinland found their realms appearing in proximity with each other and now the two peoples trade and socialize regularly with each other.

THE ALLIANCE OF ELVES AND MEN

While the Elves of Middle-Earth had originally refused to join the race of Men in battle against Sauron, preferring to secure their own borders and understanding the age of the Elves was nearly over, in the face of the threat of Sauron and the many dangers of the Wilderlands, they've recognized that the world has changed and that they still have a part to play in the fate of their world. For this reason, the realms of Mirkwood, Rivendell, and Lothlorien have formally allied with the human kingdoms of Gondor and Rohan, planning on resisting the might of Sauron and the Unfinished Princess together. Some Elves have fled the Wilderlands, taking the straight road across the sea to Valinor, the land of their world's gods, but others have decided to stay in the Wilderlands and fight.

The Dwarves of Middle-Earth have declined to join this Alliance, feeling that their numbers are too small to contribute warriors to any other fronts, but have at least agreed to alliances with local communities, such as the Dwarves of the Lonely Mountain committing to an alliance with the Men of Dale.

At this stage, the Alliance of Men and Elves has extended their protective arm around certain lands and realms incapable of defending themselves, like the Shire and Munchkinland, guarding them with roaming bands of Rangers and bands of wandering Elf warriors.

The Riders of Rohan are one of the Alliances greatest strengths. They have split their forces, with units of riders led by King Theoden aiding Gondor, and units led by warriors such as Eomer and Eowyn of the royal family patrolling the countryside, protecting some of its borders from outside enemies.

The Alliance of Elves and Men have sent messengers beyond its borders to surrounding lands to ally with realms both near and far and is slowly adding new allies all the time.

THE RAMTOPS STEADING

After the Wilderlands spat out both Unseen University of the Discworld and the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in close proximity to each other, in a mountain range combined from the mountains of Scotland and the Ramtops of Discworld, multiple groups from both worlds have allied with each other in the region. In between bouts of defending the schools from outside threats, the two magical schools now have a friendly rivalry and frequent sporting competitions.

Due to unreliable Apparating conditions, a barely functioning Floo network, and the great distance over dangerous territory that the students would have to be transported through to be reunited with their families in other Wizarding World territories, the people of the Wizarding World have resigned themselves to being separated from their children for their own safety, until such a time that travel becomes safer or the worlds are restored to the way they once were.

This is a wise decision on their part not just because the schools have some of the best magical security in the Wilderlands, but also because they're completely surrounded by the Witches of the Ramtops. The Witches of the Disc, who have individual "steadings" (ie areas they minister to) in areas around the Ramtops, now consider the area the two schools are in to be part of one great Steading they all protect. They've decided this because letting children get hurt Just Isn't Done and because it's generally accepted that -- excluding the Hogwarts headmaster Minerva McGonagall, who's a perfectly respectable witch even by Discworld standards -- wizards are mostly incompetent and completely silly and can't possibly hope to defend themselves.

Helping the Witches of the Disc are a group of Aurors and powerful witches and wizards from the Wizarding World, who were dispatched by the Ministry of Magic to make the long journey to the school to defend it. The Witches have reluctantly accepted their aid, only under the condition that the agents of the Wizarding World understand they should let the headologists do the thinking and leave the magical heavy lifting to the magic-users wot don't need pointy little sticks to get anything done.

The region's reputation for safety has led to refugees from some of the realms conquered by more malevolent forces to seek refuge there. This hasn't phased the Witches of the Ramtops in the least, because caring for the devastated and downtrodden is the soul and center of Witchery. They've quietly healed the sick and injured, given comfort to the dying, buried those that lived only just long enough to reach safety, and found loving homes for the orphans among the not-quite-bright but largely decent people of the tiny Discworld country of Lancre.

While the Ramtops Steading is in only one location, many of the Witches make sojourns out from it frequently, in recognition of the fact that great evils have blighted the land, meaning that Discworld Witches can be found all over the Wilderlands. While they have no uniform code or nation they're obedient to, they can be generally trusted to help those who need it and to make everyone's business their business -- especially if it's bad business.

For this reason, the PCs may find themselves gaining surprise aid on their journeys, from unassuming mothers and milkmaids and elderly women who are secretly witches.

THE CHILDLIKE EMPRESS

The Childlike Empress was once a force for good, the ruler of Fantasia, but for unknown reasons, now she sleeps an enchanted sleep in her Ivory Tower, and can't be woken. Some of the citizens of Fantasia wander the Wilderlands trying to find some way of waking her up, and for an unknown reason, the Old Man wants to wake her up as well. The forces of Sauron and the Unfinished Princess hope to keep her asleep, or to kill her, knowing she'd be a threat, but the Ivory Tower is too heavily guarded by the people of Fantasia.

Heroes from Fantasia can sometimes be found wandering the Wilderlands and while their priority is finding something to wake the Childlike Empress up, they can often be counted on for aid.