One of my favourite games is Dungeoneer by Thomas Denmark and published by Atlas Games, partly because of its carefully crafted ruleset, and partly because of its mysterious lore. Dungeoneer is sold as card decks, but it's really a board game, with some cards serving as board tiles. I own all Dungeoneer decks, so I'm reviewing each of them. In this post, I look at the setting of the Dragons of the Forsaken Desert set.
The back of the box sets the scene:
Long ago the sorcery of the Eldritch Lords transformed the fertile plains of Folornia into a desolate waste. Now the crumbling ruins of a great civilization litter the landscape, and only the remnants of the people known as the Drakan survive the harsh desert. But the mighty Dragon Overlord has summoned legions of his kind and their reptile minions to lay claim to the desert.
Like Haunted Woods of Malthorin and Realm of the Ice Witch, this set is a wilderness rather than a dungeon set. The cards have white borders, and some cards provide entry into dungeons in case you want to combine this deck with a dungeon deck.
Aside from the back of the box, the term "Forlornia" is only explicitly mentioned once in the entire deck, and possibly referenced once. I'm assuming that "Forlornia" is the entire region rather than just a city. Possibly, it's a name bestowed upon the region only after it was transformed into a desert.
Although there's at least one dragon or wyrm in every Dungeoneer set, Forlornia is obviously a region known for dragons, as the card Dragon Fear reveals:
The dragons of Forlornia cast a shadow of fear across the desert.
Not only are there lots of dragons, but there have been for a long time. The card Necrodragon says that "The most ancient of dragons still haunts the desert."
It seems that dragons have a affinity for the desert. The card Dragon Nip says:
Dragons draw energy from the arcane essence of the forsaken desert.
A reference to Forlornia also appears in the flavour text of Forlorn Magic:
Forlorn mages are valuable guides on the ever-changingi sands of the desert.
Presumably these mages are called "Forlorn mages" because they dwell in Forlornia. The back of the box along with the location cards Forsaken Village and Drakan Enclave confirms that there are Drakan settlements in Forlornia. The once verdant region is now a desert, but it's still definitely home to a subset of humanoids.
Not all Drakan keep to the villages, though. The Desert Stalker card speaks of some wanderers:
The forsaken desert becomes like home to those who wander it long enough.
There's also a Brigand's Lair location card, home to rogues and assassins (specifically the Assassin Princess, who has been captured by a dragon and placed in the Necrotower.)
Additionally, there are supply caravans that cross the desolate wastes, described by the Escort the Caravan quest card:
Merchants pay a high price to be escorted across the forsaken desert.
The survival of the people of Forlornia is no small feat. Obviously they exist within a region described as desert wastes, so life can't be easy. There's also evidence that the transformation from fertile steppe to forsaken desert was not gradual but cataclysmic. Three cards mention the Anarchy Wars, which in context suggests that after the fall of Forlornia lawlessness reigned.
Warp to Desert states that "Ancient warp conduits remain in the foraken desert. They are relics of the Anarchy Wars." The Eldritch Lords were frequent users of warp magic (to Oriella's dismay), so it could be that the Eldritch Lords were involved in the Anarchy Wars, or it could be that some Forlorn Mages obtained the secret to warp magic from the Eldritch Lords and used it during the Anarchy Wars.
Warp from Desert confirms that "Residual energy from the Anarchy Wars rips through the desert like a sandstorm."
Desert Essence says that "The arcane essence of the forsaken desert is residue from the Anarchy Wars."
To sum it up, the forsaken desert is far from just a desert. It's a powerful repository of magical essence coveted by dragons and mages alike.
The cards of the set reveal some of the significant landmarks within the forsaken desert, and reveal much about the region.
Kith-Kanon is a location possibly within the forsaken desert, or it may be a person's name. The card Dragon Cleaver features this flavour text:
Dragon Cleaver was forged by Kith-Kanon to slay dragons.
The card's art features Groluk, this set's Ogre Barbarian playable character, wielding an enormous cleaver while running toward a dragon. Because the artwork features a fairly recognisable character from the set, it seems likely that Kith-Kanon is not a person (or the card art would probably feature Kith-Kanon). It's more likely a place, and because there's a forge there I'm personally tempted to suppose it's a dwarven city, but I admit that's accepting a default fantasy trope. There's little evidence for who founded Kith-Kanon (or indeed whether it's actually a person, blacksmith shoppe, city, kingdom, region, or even a continent.)
The location cards Ruins of Necrotopia and Necrotower reveal that a great city existed before the cataclysm. Whether it was called Necrotopia before the region became a forsaken desert, or whether it earned that name afterwards, we do not know.
At least in its current state, the Necrotower has a reputation as grim as its name. The 2 quest cards that reference Necrotower suggest that a dragon rules the tower, and apparantly takes prisoners. The Rescue the Assassin Princess quest requires a hero to escort the Assassin Princess from the Necrotower to Brigand's Lair, and Face the Dragon Terror requires a hero to stare down (or kill?) a dragon (or dragons?)
A pit containing the lost souls of former inhabitants of the city Necrotopia. The Defy the Pit of Sharnaga quest bears this flavour text:
The burning pit of Sharnaga is a chamber of lost souls gripped by despair, who were trapped in Necrotopia when it fell.
The story of Dragons of the Forsaken Desert is clearest on the back of the box, but this set's story is less a narrative than a setting. Like Realm of the Ice Witch, the cards reveal components of the world, and you spend your time in game exploring, discovering places and items, and completing a variety of quests. There is no quest to defeat the Dragon Overlord mentioned on the back of the box or on the Citadel of the Overlord location card. You're not on a mission to conquer, you're on a mission to survive, and to help others survive.
The forsaken desert is a dangerous land less, it seems, for its environmental hazards than the unsavoury creatures roaming within it. Dragons, assassins, brigands, lizard people, throgs, and latent eldritch magic threaten everyone within the forsaken desert, and there's not one single mention of Omnisus on any card in the set. You're on your own when you enter Forlornia, and the most helpful companion you're likely to come across is an assassin princess.
Speaking of unsavoury characters, in my next post I explore the characters and creatures of the Dragons of the Forsaken Desert set.
Header and card image copyright by Thomas Denmark and Atlas Games, and used exclusively as reference.