Into the Unknown
I have just finished re-reading (well, listening to, on my commute), Mythago Wood by Robert Holdstock. I first read it when I was very young, and perhaps not ready for it; it made a profound impression on me but I…
Those Who Came Before, The Old Ones and The Others
Many Albanni will tell tales of strange folk, outsiders and the odd beings who dwell in ths lands of Alba alongside them, but they fall, generally into three broad categories. Those Who Came Before Those Who Came Before seem mostly…
Game Design and Intent 2 – Your Story
One of the key mechanics in Alba will be the process of earning and using story tokens – we haven’t pinned down yet what they will be called, so that’s a placeholder name. The concept of these is that they…
Lands of Alba: The Other Place
Tir na nÓg. Annwn. The Western Lands. Avalon. Emain Ablach. Tech Duinn. Faerie. Lavondyss. The Lands of Autumn. Our myths and legends have as many names for the Otherworld as there are tribes to tell tales. The Other Place draws…
Lands of Alba: Lost Doggerland
It’s said by those who heard the tale that in the times before the Moon, when the Ice covered the North, Alba was a much greater land. Vast plains rolled off beyond the Fenlands, which were themselves more like the…
Lands of Alba: The Summerlands
Overview Rolling fields and gentle hills, kind land with good grazing and rich harvests. These are the lands where the Potter and the Farmer hold sway, where the wild past of the Albanni sometimes seems the furthest from now. The…
Lands of Alba: the Greenwood
Overview The Greenwood is the great forest which occupies the majority of the central mass of the island of Alba. It is not continuous; there are great clearings miles across in places, and hills rise out of the forest cover…
Lands of Alba: The North Country
Overview High plateaus, wild and breathtakingly beautiful moors, windswept expanses between towering peaks, harsh winters, hard but kind people, unyielding grey stone, poor crops, settlements smaller and further away but motivated by fierce pride in their land and their traditions….
Lands of Alba: The Fenlands
Overview The Fenlands are the name given to the low-lying eastern flanks of Alba and encompass both the great marshes and flatlands of the eastern plain and the long eastern and south-eastern coastal strip. The Fenlands breed a people who…
Lands of Alba: The Old Country
Overview The Old Country the name given to the mountainous and rugged western flanks of Alba, and the low plains that connect them to the rest of the mainland in the east. The People of the Old Country are defined…